Critical Mass: Blood and Bone
by Finite Infinity
Summary: Second in the Critical Mass Series.  The line between good and evil has never been thinner anywhere but Omega.  How do we know when we cross it?  Can we ever come back?
1. A Kind of Mind

Written 05/08/11

Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect. I am however, part of a secret underground who are planning to 'liberate' the universe. We're so secret, I've never actually met the other members...

_**Author's note**__: This is the second story in the Critical Mass series. I suggest new readers start with Critical Mass: A Sec._

_I warn you in advance I'm out of practice with this whole writing thing, so don't expect a masterpiece. I do however love reviews, and find them greatly inspiring. I fear flames, I'm nearly phobic, there have been nightmares. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please try to be nice. You wouldn't want to make me cry would you?_

_What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another?_

_-Alan Paton_

A Kind of Mind

Kelly stood with her arms held tightly at her sides, back straight, shoulders thrust back and her jaw held high. Her mouth was tight with the effort not allow herself to react to the verbal punishment she was receiving. A far cry from her first appearance in Afterlife, she was dressed in matte black armour. It was a light armour, that had hard plates covering her most vulnerable areas, but much of the armour revealed a thick black under suit that covered her body, and allowed for flexibility.

"What good is a guard who won't touch her weapon?" the asari on the other side of the desk in the small room demanded. She sat with her arms crossed across her chest, leaning back in her chair, scowling at Kelly. Her blue eyes flashed with frustration, and the three marks that flared from the middle of her brow, came together, clenched with anger. "You've been on the job for over thirty shifts, you've demonstrated to me that you can indeed use your weapons, you have your own armour now, the dancers like you and you're the thrice-damned leader of your squad, but you refuse to shoot your damned gun!" she seethed, coming to her feet. She slammed her fists onto her desk.

With a scowl of her own Kelly responded, "I don't refuse to shoot my gun, I just haven't had a good reason to yet."

Lieutenant Alessa snorted and gave Kelly an eloquent look of disbelief, "Don't give me that crap. In your first week, that Eclipse goon almost drew down on you, but you talked him down. It was your first week, I understood that, even commended you for it. Then that krogan almost smashed your face in and you just whispered menacingly at him and he walked away. The krogan, walked, away," she said with disbelief, "and then your squad made you leader."

"The Eclipse had just drunk a little too much, I didn't need to shoot him. And I just happen to know a really good krogan threat. And that had nothing to do with being squad leader, my squad just doesn't care. They just wanted me to do the organizational crap. I can't actually order them to do anything, I just suggest things, I ask," Kelly said with a shrug.

"Alright, then explain to me why you didn't shoot the Blue Sun who shot at you today," Alessa asked dryly.

"He missed and then he surrendered," Kelly cocked her head at Alessa, unimpressed. There had been a disturbance earlier. A man had come into the club and started drinking. Heavily. He had been dumped by his asari girlfriend earlier, something about her not wanting to put up with his mood swings anymore, and he was hurting. Seeking solace in the bottom of the bottle, it hadn't been long before he was too drunk to see straight. And then prompted by a pretty dancer getting too close, he had burst into sobbing and wailing. Kelly had attempted to escort the man out of the club, gently attempting to guide him out. He had not seen fit to accommodate her.

"He aimed a rifle at you and tried to blow your head off."

"He was too drunk to aim."

"He almost hit a dancer."

"But he didn't," Kelly said with a peaceful smile. Her own annoyance had faded as she felt herself gaining the upper hand in the argument. "He apologized, gave me his rifle and left."

"Would you have fought him if hadn't?" Alessa asked with a sigh, sinking back into her seat.

"Of course I would have," Kelly said with a frown.

"Kelly..." Alessa sighed, "And what if next time you're not as lucky? Are you really that naive? Next time you try to talk your way out of a situation, or try to diffuse a situation, you may not be so lucky. And it is luck. You have no way of anticipating how every blasted piece of scum will react. Especially on Omega. Maybe if you were an officer on the Citadel, bastion of peace and civilization, you could rely on your soft hearted tactics, but Omega is populated by the worst beings the universe has to offer. The only law on Omega is the law found at the end of gun's barrel."

Alessa sighed and watched Kelly. The human seemed to be listening to her, but Alessa feared that her guard didn't hear her. "Next time you don't act first, you may not get the chance. You can't afford to take these risks. You're raw Kelly. You're good enough if you have the advantage of acting first, but only if you make sure that there will be no retaliation. You need to strike swiftly and with finality."

"I'm not going to shoot people just because I think they _might _start something. I'd rather take a risk to myself than make a mistake that would cost someone their life," Kelly told Alessa solemnly, confident in her conviction.

Alessa searched for a way to make the young woman understand. Nearing two hundred years old herself, she had let go of her own naivety long ago, but she still valued life. She was struggling to describe the line between reckless wannabe heroine and ruthless criminal. "You're fine with risking your life, okay. No one can deny you that right. But you're a guard, an A Sec guard. Every time you risked a situation getting beyond your control, you risked the lives of everyone else in Afterlife." Alessa went on, encouraged by Kelly's startled blink. "What if the shots today hadn't missed? What if a dancer had been hit? A customer? Another guard? Is the life of the idiot making trouble, pulling a gun, starting a fight, more important than their lives? You say you take your job seriously. You've won over the dancers' trust in short order. Hell, look at that dancer Maru, she almost worships the ground you walk on."

"She's my friend," Kelly edged out, taking advantage of a brief stop in Alessa's tirade.

It was brief though, and Alessa continued with new vigour, "And what if it had been her? If she was caught in the crossfire of some idiot who can't hold his liquor? Would it make it okay? Would you forgive? Would it be alright if it was an accident?" Alessa glared hotly at Kelly, willing the younger woman to understand.

Kelly found herself unable to meet Alessa's eyes. She looked at the desk between them and whispered quietly, "No. No it wouldn't..."

"Because she'd be dead. Dead because you hesitated, because you let some misguided sense of morality prevent you from finishing it before it started. You're responsible for more than your own actions, more than your own life. You need to think. You need to act." Alessa finished, letting her ire bleed away. Kelly would, with no doubt, not be convinced by this alone. But Alessa was satisfied to see her start to think. It was enough, for now.

Both women were startled as the door to the small office abruptly slid open and another asari walked in. Unlike the two armoured women, she wore the uniform of the Afterlife dancers. Her skin was a darker hue of blue then the other asari, and her face was pebbled with small white crests, that swept around her eyes and cheekbones, and back onto her fringe. She walked with almost a skip in her walk and a bright smile on her face. "Mo-mo!" she chimed, leaning around Kelly towards the lieutenant. She snuck an arm around Kelly's waist to steady herself.

With a roll of her eyes, the tension broken, Kelly joked, "Nice to see you too Vikaila. Don't mind me, I'll just stand here and hold you up. I've been thinking about a career change anyways, I wonder if sentient furniture draws a large salary?"

"Vikaila, I was in a meeting." Alessa told the dancer, with a touch of resignation.

"Moiria Alessa," Vikaila said, standing up sharply, "You weren't being mean to Kelly were you?"

Before Alessa could respond Kelly interjected, "No Viks. We were just talking about my work performance."

Vikaila looked between the two, disbelief clearly written all over her face. Then with a roll of her eyes she moved around Kelly and hopped up onto the desk. She made a small shooing motion at Kelly, turning towards Alessa. "Ah huh, sure. That's nice, now why don't you go walk Maru home? She waiting for you, and I plan to blow my girlfriend's mind right now. And I don't mind, but she doesn't like an audience."

"Vikaila!" Alessa exclaimed, collapsing forward, elbows on her knees, cradling her face in her hands. "Must you demean my authority so thoroughly?"

Kelly laughed openly then, and turned from the both. "Don't worry, your authority is firmly intact. Just let me get out the door," she called back over her shoulder. Her retreat covered the small frown that had re-emerged on her lips.

Kelly stepped out into the dark hallway and the office door sealed itself behind her. She took a brief moment to lean against the wall next to the door. The corridor held the offices of the three officers of lower Afterlife Security. The batarian, Captain Ruque Boros, was in charge of thirty two guards, thirty split between two lieutenants. The guard shift was roughly thirty hours long, fifteen hours for each of the lieutenants. First Lieutenant Prolus Vivianarus, a turian, and his three squads took the first half and Second Lieutenant Moiria Alessa took the second half with her three squads. Of course the first and second designation was largely arbitrary. Omega lacked a solar cycle to establish time. Omega's denizens largely determined their own time cycles individually, or according to origin. It could have chaotic consequence.

The hall also led around to guards' locker room and the dancers' change room. It would have been faster to cut across the club, but her squad's ten hours were up, and she didn't feel any particular need to invite extra work. If she went out into the crowd in A Sec armour, after her shift, she knew without a doubt, _something_ would happen to delay her sweet, sweet, downtime. She waved at a few guards going out for the start of their shift, and walked past the guard's locker room and into the dancers' room.

With so few female guards, it was a choice between changing with the males, or the dancers. Though the guards of A Sec were generally civil with each other, for fear of Boros's wrath, few of the female guards were willing to test the limits of that civility to such extent. Kelly wasn't surprised to see Lavi Tawsh, the only female batarian she'd ever met, changing out of her own armour.

"Hey Kelly, did Alessa chew you out? Or did she not like the taste?" Tawsh guffawed, giving Kelly a friendly punch in the shoulder as she passed.

Rubbing at the sting in her arm from the so called friendly jab, Kelly responded dryly, "Alessa wasn't chewing me out. We were having a philosophical disagreement." Kelly ignored her squad mate's snort of disbelief and started unbuckling her armour.

"Well at least she didn't shoot you. You wouldn't want to scorch your pretty new armour, especially now that it's your armour on the line and not mine," Tawsh teased. Batarian females being almost as broad and muscular as their male counterparts, meant that Tawsh's spare armour had fit Kelly better than any made for asari. It hadn't been a perfect fit of course, Tawsh was more than a head taller than Kelly, but it had done the job while Kelly had waited for her own armour to be made. It was surprising how long it had taken, and Kelly strongly suspected that Aria had been waiting to see if she could survive her first month before making an investment as substantial as custom armour.

"You're just jealous that she always wants to talk to me. If you want more face time with Alessa, you can be squad leader. I hand the title to you willing and with relief," Kelly said pleasantly. Her cheer was undermined by violence she employed to shove her armour into her locker.

Tawsh laughed at Kelly. Her face was a pale tan that darkened to brown and then black past her face ridges. She was thinner than the males of her species, the lines of her face sharper, but she was as muscular as any male. Her shoulders were broad, and her waist trim, though not as slender as an asari's. Tawsh tossed her armour into her locker and said, "Oh no venerable squad leader, I wouldn't dare usurp your authority. Plus, squad leaders hardly ever go on any missions."

Kelly snorted and checked her weapons. "And I haven't gone on any. Alessa won't trust me until I do someone grievous bodily harm, and Boros doesn't trust humans. I come to the most violent place in the galaxy, full of gangs and criminals, and can't prove myself. It's like something out of a fable!"

"Aw poor baby. Tell you what, next time I go out on a mission I'll bring you back a skull or something. You can tell that pretty dancer that you killed it yourself," Tawsh said.

Kelly rolled her eyes and grabbed her weapon holsters from the locker. Her guns would magnetically stick to the back of her armour, but stripped down to her under armour, a black bodysuit, they need to be carried in holsters. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm just frustrated, I'll get over it."

"Yes I can tell, you're really broken up about it," Tawsh said sarcastically.

"Not all of us can go on violent rages that scare away all the customers. We have a limited quota," Kelly retaliated.

"Ha ha," Tawsh deadpanned, "You never get really upset you know? You never cut loose and let it out. Repression isn't healthy. Next time someone starts a fight, pound the shit out of someone. It always makes me feel better."

"Yes, but then you're made of rage and violent urges. Again, only so many people can fit that description at once." Kelly grabbed her leather jacket out of the locker and pulled it on over her guns. She checked that they were all adjusted for a quick draw, unhindered by the jacket, or hidden as well as she knew how. Just because she hadn't shot anyone on Omega yet, didn't mean the last month hadn't been eventful and a hell of an education. She sat down and fiddled with her omni-tool, adjusting her shields that emitted from the generator on her belt.

"You know for someone who carries as many guns as you do, you protest an inclination towards violence pretty strongly," the surprisingly insightful comment came from the other side of Kelly. Maru laughed and tumbled playfully into Kelly's lap.

Kelly caught her, accommodatingly, and asked, "Have you been drinking?"

"Nope, just dead tired. Guards aren't the only ones with long shifts around here you know," Maru said, sighing dramatically and flinging an arm above her head. "I've been waiting forever for you to walk me home."

Unmoved by the asari's dramatics, Kelly looked down at her and said, "You didn't have to wait for me. You managed before I came along, quite well if I recall."

"You wouldn't deprive her of an armed escort would you? Omega's not exactly the land of hugs and rainbows," Tawsh said. It was muffled as she dragged a shirt down over head and body armour.

Sighing deeply Kelly admitted, "No I wouldn't. But you should stop complaining you lazy butt."

With a broad smile Maru retaliated, "My butt isn't lazy! It's blue and perky," she wriggled in Kelly's lap for emphasis.

Kelly stood abruptly spilling Maru out of her lap. She grabbed her to keep her from falling, but shook her head at the asari in resignation. "It's things like this why we can't go anywhere nice. Come on perky, let's go home. Some of us got shot at today, and it's a surprisingly tiring experince."

Kelly and Maru made their farewells to Tawsh and the other dancers in change room. They headed out the back exit of the lower club level, avoiding customers and other coworkers on the way out. Their shift's end had left them both tired and listless, and if they hadn't walked the same route a hundred times before, they wouldn't have found their way this time. Of course Omega calls for a certain level of alertness, regardless of exhaustion. But thankfully only one person seemed to take an undue interest in the two on their homebound journey, and the interest was quickly averted when Kelly's jacket gapped to reveal her personal armoury.

As when they first met, their path led them past Dr. Solus's clinic. Worn as they were they simply waved at the entrance receptionist and kept going. Kelly had become a reoccurring visitor to the clinic, personal not professional, over the past month. Mordin had been at once impressed and disappointed when Kelly returned after her recruitment to A Sec. He had quickly resolved to continue to help her and had begun training her in weapons more thoroughly than his initial tutorial, among other things. He had been the sole true confidant Kelly had, and she was grateful for him. She was also nearly certain that he was still pumping her for information.

Maru had quickly become Kelly's second friend on Omega. The girl had been thrilled when Kelly had found her later at the club and announced that she'd taken care of her unemployment problem. She had dragged Kelly to her apartment complex and cajoled the landlady into renting an apartment to Kelly. The complex almost strictly catered to asari, but Maru had managed to convince the matron that a human wouldn't be that different, especially a female.

Chatting, they let themselves in the front and went to the elevator. The building was ten floors, with entrances opening out onto multiple different levels on Omega. From the entrance on their level, they both had to go up a number of floors.

"My knees are killing me," Maru moaned bending over and massaging her legs.

"You chose to dance for your dinner dear, no one's forcing you," Kelly said, selecting their floor on the holographic elevator controls.

"I like dancing! The excitement, the passion, watching people watching me. I meet new people, do new things and have a new adventure every night. I just wish my knees wouldn't keep complaining," Maru whined, reaching up to lean heavily on Kelly as she stretched out her legs.

Kelly lightly held onto the precariously balance asari. "Every good thing has its bad parts, and every bad thing has its good parts. Accept them or reject them, but don't complain about it. You're either happy being a dancer or you're not. You can shoot straight. If you don't want to dance anymore join the guard or something. Just not Eclipse, they're nasty," Kelly shuddered.

"Because it makes you so happy? You say you love being a guard, but I don't think I've ever seen you actually do more than threaten anybody," Maru ignored the protest forming on Kelly's lips and continued, "I love dancing, but it doesn't mean I have to love the consequences of gyrating and twisting across the stage. You don't have to deal in absolutes you know. Like what you like, hate what you hate, don't rationalize it. Sure there are consequences. I'm not going to be up to running around partying anytime soon because of my knees, and you have to endure criticism from Alessa because you don't want to hurt people. You don't have to like getting reamed by the stuck up tight-ass, but that doesn't mean you have to do what she wants either." Maru's speech ended as the elevator opened on their floor, and Maru grabbed Kelly's hand, pulling her out behind her.

"It's not the same thing Maru. Killing is wrong. Sometimes it's needs to be done, because it will save more lives than it costs but it's still wrong," Kelly protested impassionedly, letting Maru drag her down the hall.

"Then quit. Work at Dr. Solus's clinic, become a dancer, a bartender or go back to Earth. If you don't want to kill anyone, get out of A Sec," Maru suggested. She slowed their pace as they approached her door, it was much closer to the elevators than Kelly's. Kelly's apartment was the second farthest room from the elevator, a journey Maru was rarely willing to make after her shifts at Afterlife.

Kelly, at a loss for words, walked silently with Maru to the door, thinking. Maru let go of Kelly and typed her code into the door and it slid open with a hiss of compressed air. The asari stepped in the door and spun around to face Kelly. "But I think you really like being a guard Kelly. You told me you felt like you fit here. You're good at being a guard too, you actually care about the dancers, the bartenders and the customers. You even worry about Aria, and you're not even on her detail. I don't want you to leave Omega, or Afterlife." Maru hesitated and bit her lip, then she added, "Just don't get upset about it. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, and Alessa will leave you alone. Eventually. It's okay if you don't go on missions and stuff. You still do a good job." She leaned forward and gave Kelly a quick hug, letting go just as quickly. "Go home and get some sleep, okay?" Maru smiled at Kelly, waiting for the quieter woman to respond. After a moment Kelly smiled back and nodded gently.

"Okay," she said, stepping back from the door. When Maru closed it, Kelly's forced smile wavered and faded. She turned down the hall, walking towards her own apartment. Though not quite as a sore as Maru, Kelly was just as tired, and yearned for her own bed.

As she walked away from her friend's door, her fallen smile, slowly turned to a hesitant and troubled frown. She whispered softly to herself, "I am a good guard. But what if good, isn't enough?"


	2. A Kind of Voice

Written 05/19/11

Disclaimer: If I owned Mass Effect it wouldn't have been nearly as funny. Comedy is hard.

_The brave love mercy, and delight to save. _

_John Gay_

A Kind of Voice

"Sleep cycle concluded Kelly. It is now time to awaken. One Earth standard hour before appointment with Dr. Solus." Kelly's eyes, heavy with sleep, cracked open as her apartment VI chirped at her. Appearing as a diminutive asari, though not quite realistic, the VI projected herself onto the bedside table.

"Fifteen more minutes..." Kelly mumbled, curling back into her warm bed.

"Negative. Appointment marked as high priority. Approximately one hour is required to prepare. Sleep cycle is concluded Kelly. It is now time to awaken." The VI's volume increased as it repeated itself.

"Alright! Okay, okay! I'm getting up, go away!" Kelly surrendered, throwing off her bed covers. Rolling over to sit on the edge of her bed, she sighed and glanced around the apartment. It was a small apartment, a bedroom, an all purpose room and a bathroom. Her bedroom held a circular bed, hardly a foot off the floor, a desk at a more usual height, a terminal on the desk and a few other miscellaneous pieces of furniture. One wall had a window, but a false one, Kelly had set it to project stars at night, specifically the local ones, and in the day it showed a forest glen, which was periodically populated be woodland creatures.

"Start the bath," Kelly called out to the VI, dragging herself towards the washroom, wishing again that her apartment had a shower. An asari apartment was different from a human one in a few ways, besides the circular bed, the apartment lacked a shower. Asari it seemed, due to their semi-aquatic nature, had a strong preference for baths. Kelly had to make due with a standalone bathtub, or shower at the club. At least the VI could handle starting the water flow.

It did take Kelly most of an hour to get ready. She tended to linger, still being half asleep, which was why she had set the VI to give her an hour. There was barely enough time to change into her under armour and pull a loose, green shirt on over top. She had just enough fashion sense to think the shirt went with her green eyes. It was never wise to wander the streets of Omega unarmed, so Kelly also gathered her various guns, including her new rifle that the drunken patron had surrendered to her on her previous shift. Pulling on her jacket, she grabbed a packet of nutrient paste, the only food she could afford regularly, rent being what it was, and she was out the door.

She sucked on the paste as she walked down the hall and into the elevator. The nurient paste was barely palatable, and the first time Kelly had tasted it, her gag reflex had protested strongly. She waved at some dancers she knew as they came out of the elevator and she went in.

One of them, Arryl who had shared more than one shift with Kelly, called to her, inquisitively, as she passed. "Your shift can't be starting again already? I wanted to show you this human thing I got."

Kelly managed to swallow and reply as the elevator closed, "Going to the clinic. Show me later."

She missed Arryl mumble to the other girl, "Of course she is. The amount of time she spends there... You think she has some kind of horrible disease?"

Oblivious to the speculations about her health, Kelly rode the elevator down and finished up her paste. Omega had no sanitation service to speak of, so she shoved the empty packet in a pocket, ignoring the complaints of her stomach. Nutrient paste kept a person alive, healthy even, but it was hardly satisfying.

Exiting the apartment, Kelly headed hastily to the clinic. Mordin had a habit of making disapproving noises at her when she was late, she found it quite disconcerting really. She was also looking forward to a chance to learn with her newly acquired rifle. Having issues with wanton killing, did not seem to interfere with the frighteningly child-like glee she gained in handling a new weapon, or learning a new violent trick from Mordin. Some people might worry about paradoxical personalities, but Kelly tried not to think about it too hard.

She waved at the clinic's outer receptionist, really more of bouncer than a receptionist, who waved back. The turian barely seemed to notice Kelly's passage, her presence at this point was nearly as much of a fixture as any of the staff. Kelly went inside the clinic, surprised to see it was mostly empty, the medical receptionist who actually kept track of patients and files was nodding off, and there was only one person sitting in the waiting room.

Kelly suspected he was not in need of medical treatment, but Taelo did have a habit of putting himself in harm's way. "Guardswoman Kelly! I was hoping to see you here today." The salarian got up from his chair and walked over to Kelly, a broad smile cutting across his face.

"Whatever it is, no. A hundred times no. A thousand no. Whatever you're selling today, whatever investment or deal, or mad scheme, I am not participating this time." Kelly told the salarian glancing at the receptionist behind the counter. She shrugged nonchalantly and went back to ignoring them both.

Smile no dimmer for Kelly's refusal, Taelo said, "Very shrewd Kelly. Right down to business right? That's what I like about you. You always say exactly what you mean. But surely a smart human like you will want to take advantage of this business opportunity. For a small credit investment you can join a medical equipment venture." Taelo stopped walking and stood in front of Kelly, close enough she had to crane her head back to meet his eyes.

Interrupting him before he went on, Kelly replied unimpressed, "This wouldn't be anything like the last venture would it? The one with the antique human collectibles that turned out to be chunks of rock from Tuchanka? Or the deal before that on the discounted mechs that would burst into flame two minutes after activation because of faulty heat fans? Is it perhaps like the time I loaned you half my pay check because you had the deal of a lifetime, and promised me you'd double, no, triple my investment? But the merchandise you bought was confiscated by a Spectre before it ever left Illium? Well, is this anything like that?"

"This is nothing at all like those previous unfortunate incidents," Taelo said, smiling emphatically. "This is a legitimate business enterprise. A batarian trading vessel is buying medical equipment here and taking to the human colonies, selling at great profit! The colonies get the equipment they desperately require, and you can make a smart investment."

"Taelo... These batarian traders... would they be the ones who showed about four days ago? The ones with the Keska-41 with the extra mounted cannon?" Kelly asked.

"42 actually, but still, you are a very well informed woman. You must know what an amazing opportunity this is?" Taelo said, gesturing enthusiastically.

Kelly sighed and looked around Taelo , hoping to see a trace of Mordin. No such luck though. Turning back to the blue and white salarian Kelly asked, "You do realize they're pirates, don't you?" Rolling her eyes at Taelo's suddenly startled expression, Kelly continued, "One of the crew was in Afterlife and after a few, he bragged, loudly, about their business operation. They go in, posing as nice, innocent and friendly, sell their cargo and get to know the locals. Then they attack in the dead of night, steal all the valuables they scouted out, and steal back their cargo. I'm afraid I'll have to decline Taelo, and I suggest you do too. I don't think they're exactly trustworthy."

Taelo blinked at Kelly. "Right..." he said weakly, defeated.

"Have you seen Dr. Solus around anywhere?" Kelly asked Taelo, changing the subject. The two had met when Taelo had tracked Kelly down on a previous scheme, and had even attempted to convince the doctor. Mordin had been more amused than anything, but by no means was Taelo able to convince him to make any type of investment so far, despite his impressive persistence.

"Uh, no. The clinic seems to be quite empty actually. Dr. Koma is seeing a patient, but I think the clinic may be having a slow day. Hmmm... So do you think Dr. Solus might be interesting in an advertising campaign? A few billboards, a commercial, maybe an extranet add..." Taelo said his mind already turning onto new credit generating ploys.

Ignoring him Kelly walked past Taelo, and down the hall. If there were no patients to see, Mordin would be in his office, or in the shed in the back. Usually Mordin would give her a very brief medical check-up, to monitor her adaption to the alien environment, and then give her instructions to follow while he saw some patients. It could be anything from physical exertion, such as sit ups or some kind of aerobics, to studying the basic vulnerable points on a turian anatomy or common weaknesses in a quarian suits. Kelly had laughed when Mordin had told her to study hard, because there would be a test. She had laughed harder at herself later for not believing him.

One of the medical examination room doors burst open, startling Kelly. The blue suited quarian Kelly had encountered in her first visit to the clinic spilled out of the room, bouncing off the door frame and to the floor. Startled Kelly ran to the fallen woman, reaching for her.

"Tara! Tara, are you okay? What happened?" Kelly asked.

From inside the room a rough voice answered, "The filthy quarian was getting uppity. She needed to be shown her proper place."

Carefully turning Tara over, crouching next to her, Kelly looked into the small room. She saw a rough looking, dark skinned batarian. Tara moaned weakly, and Kelly looked back to her, turning her back on the man.

"Hey Dr. Koma, can you hear me? Everything okay in there?" Kelly gently helped Tara to sit against the wall.

"He hit me. He wants... He wants the medicine." Tara struggled to look past Kelly. Her head jerked back, and Kelly spun. The batarian had come out of the room, brandishing a handgun at the pair.

"And now you get to show me where it is." The batarian gestured at Kelly with his weapon, wanting her to stand.

Squeezing Tara's shoulder through her suit, as best she could, Kelly stood, and put herself between the batarian thug and the doctor. "What do you want? Why did you hurt Dr. Koma?" Kelly took a brief second to look up and down the hall. Taelo had disappeared, and Dr. Solus was still missing. Where was Mordin?

"Just like the quarian said. A place like this is just begging to be robbed, and I'm happy to oblige. So hand over the medicine and no one gets hurt. Well, no one else." The batarian cocked the gun menacingly at Kelly.

"Listen, you don't have to do this. This is a free clinic," Kelly told the batarian, trying to remain calm. Despite a month on Omega, she still had a habit of sweating when threatened at gunpoint, but she was always getting better at hiding it. "Whatever you need medicine for, we'll help you. You don't need to do anything rash."

"Are you stupid? Humans I swear, all that _hair_, it must suffocate your brain cells. I want the medicine to sell it, not for me. Well actually, yes for me, but only in a roundabout manner." The batarian told Kelly condescendingly.

"People need this medicine. This is the only free clinic on Omega. Do really want to steal from people who have nothing?" Kelly said, appealing to his better nature.

His bark of laughter seemed to indicate a distinct lack of such a nature however. "It's too perfect not to. Any other clinic has the good sense to charge a fee, so they can hire security to protect themselves from people... well people like me. People stupid enough to give away anything for free on Omega, deserve what they get. Just be happy all I want is money."

"You're right, the clinic has no security. A free clinic on Omega that has no security. Think about what type of person might open a clinic like that. And keep it open this long. Do you really think an idiot could pull this off?" Kelly pointed out desperately. "Do you really want to make trouble for a person like that? Do you really want to do this?"

Snorting he answered Kelly, "I do. I really do. Now you are going to show me where they keep the medicine around here. If you argue with me, I'll shoot the quarian, and then you'll show me anyways, do you understand?"

Kelly racked her brain for an idea, any idea. She had studied crime long enough to know that if a criminal had already committed violence, he was very unlikely not repeat it. She knew if she showed him the medicine he wasn't going to leave them in peace. So in desperation, she lunged towards him.

She landed a quick, but awkward punch across his jaw, he was much taller than her, which made for a bad angle. Yet the batarian was startled and flinched. Kelly managed to grab his gun arm in the brief window. She pushed his arm to point the gun at the ground, turning her back into the batarian, trying to pull him around to slam him into the door frame. His back hit the door frame, forcing a grunt from the batarian, but not knocking the gun from his hand. Struggling to break his hold on the gun, she missed his hand coming up to grab her hair. She felt him pull back, bending her neck sharply backwards, but she slammed his gun hand against the wall, despite the sharp pain.

"Whore!" he swore at her, as she slammed her side into him again, trying to free his grip on the gun and her hair. She was short enough to aim most of her hit his stomach, and his curse came out half strangled. He used his grip on her hair to pull him away from her, and narrowly dodged a southerly aimed kick that he strongly felt he was better off missing out on. His gun hand free of her grip, he struck her across the jaw with his gun, spinning Kelly to the ground.

Motionless for a moment, Kelly took a moment to appreciate the feeling of what she was almost sure was a broken jaw. Of course the small remaining rational part of her brain pointed out that it had felt about this bad when her brother had clocked her across the jaw after a running start, and nothing had been broken then. The rest of her brain told that part that she really did not care right now. She forced herself sit up and twist towards him. She froze, her hair spilling around her, escaped from its tie in the struggle, and looked at the pointed gun. The gun pointed not at her, but at Tara.

The batarian, nearly frothing with fury, yelled at Kelly, "You filthy human! See what you've made me do! She's dead now you stupid whore!"

A sound of gunfire exploded in the hall. The batarian blinked, confused, and reached up to his chest with his empty hand. He stared as his fingers came away with blood. Another shot tore through the hall, and the batarian's head jerked backwards. He fell to the ground, all four eyes open, now staring at nothing.

Taelo rushed past Mordin, to Kelly, checking her for injuries. Kelly weakly pushed him away, trying to get to her feet. The pain made her lurch dizzily as she rose, and she remained silent when Taelo caught her. Mordin walked over to the fallen batarian and stooped down next to him and checked his pulse. He waited for a moment, his weapon still pointed warily at the fallen batarian. Feeling nothing, Mordin holstered his weapon and moved to Tara.

His omni-tool lit up as he connected to her suit's computer. He read over a few readouts, and then asked Tara gently, "Tara, can you hear me? Do you know your name? Your suit says it was impacted violently across the head. Are you concussed?"

Before the Dr. Solus could go on Tara responded, "I am Dr. Tara'Koma nar Cenztar and I'm just fine. The batarian dazed me, but it's passing quickly. My suit protected me." She moved to stand, but Mordin held her down.

"A moment please. Need to do internal scan." He stood and turned. Stepping over the fallen batarian, he went into the small room.

"Hey Doc, didn't anyone ever tell you to duck?" Kelly asked, walking the short distance back to Tara. She was still leaning heavily against Taelo, but he carefully supported her without protest.

"What do Terran water fowl have to do with anything?" Tara asked in turn. Mordin came back out of the room, medical scanner in hand. Stepping over the batarian corpse again, he crouched back over Tara and began his examination.

Trying for humour, Kelly said, "Hello Dr. Solus, so nice of you to show up. I was wondering where you were, but you know, I got a little distracted."

"When the batarian came out after knocking the doctor down, I uh... Went outside. I saw Dr. Solus and told him there was a batarian waving a gun around. Then he ran in, gun blazing. We got here just in time to see the batarian demonstrate the effectiveness of a gun as a bludgeoning weapon." Taelo told her, readjusting his grip on Kelly so he could brush a finger across her rapidly colouring jaw.

Brushing Taelo's hand away she asked Mordin, "Is she okay?"

Ignoring Tara's protest that, yes she was fine, he told Kelly, "Suit mostly protected her. Quarian suit design is fascinating. Minor bruising, but all superficial. No sign of concussion or any internal injury." He grasped her arms firmly, and slowly pulled Tara to her feet.

The salarians led the two injured women into the waiting room and had them sit down. The clinic at this point was completely empty, even the medical receptionist had disappeared. Mordin settled Tara and went to Kelly, shooing Taelo away. Taelo hovered behind Dr. Solus, anxiously watching the doctor scan and poke the young woman.

"Hmm... Nothing broken. Deep bruise across jaw. Medigel will help reduce swelling. One moment." Mordin left Kelly and went to the reception desk, reaching for the first aid kit underneath.

Amused by Taelo's hovering, Kelly asked, "Taelo I had no idea you cared so much. Running away I expected, but running to get help? I'm impressed." Kelly winced as her jaw protested the strain of talking.

Taelo hesitated before replying, "I'm hurt you'd think such a thing. I may be cowardly, but even a coward won't abandon his friend... Not without a plan at least."

Kelly chuckled and groaned, "Oh please, don't make me laugh. Hurts like hell."

Mordin came back over and pulled a medigel applicator out of the kit. It always reminded Kelly of a tube of toothpaste. "Don't talk. This will help with pain." He gently smoothed a glob of gel across Kelly's jaw. Kelly sighed, leaning back in relief as the coolness of the medigel sunk in.

Taking the opportunity, Mordin pulled open the front of Kelly's jacket in a vaguely obscene gesture. He examined her, looking for any other sign of injury. He frowned. "You are armed. Well armed."

Tilting her head back with a sigh, Kelly told him, "Didn't get a chance to use a gun. Tara flew out of the office, I went to see if she was alright, then the batarian was pointing a gun at me. I tried to talk to him, but he wasn't listening."

Mordin stared at Kelly for a moment, silently. Then he took her arm and pulled her up. "Come with me. Taelo stay with Tara."

He led Kelly down the hall, past the fallen batarian, and into an empty examination room. He sat her down and locked the door behind them, without saying a word. He went to a cabinet and pulled out some syringes and another scanner. Turning back to Kelly, she was worried to see a frown on his face. But as he approached her, he still didn't say a word. Putting down the syringes on the examination table besides her, he pointed the scanner at her, and activated it. He took a few moments to read the scanner, typing into the interface. Then he put it down and selected a syringe. Finally he spoke asking, "Please unzip. Need access to injection site."

Well used to Mordin's propensity for injecting her neck with various needles, Kelly unzipped the neck of her under armour, the neck of her shirt was cut low enough not to interfere. She squeezed her eyes shut as Mordin reached out with a syringe, wincing when Mordin stabbed her.

He pulled away and picked up the scanner again. The silence between the two was quickly growing uncomfortable. Kelly looked down at the room floor, not willing to look Dr. Solus in the eye. She didn't understand why he wasn't talking to her. Usually they had very involved discussions, on various subjects. Dr. Solus enjoyed teaching, and Kelly enjoyed debate enough that the two rarely ran out of things to talk about. It was disconcerting to receive the silent treatment.

Of course it couldn't last. "Have been doing research. 21st century Earth. North American culture. Canada. Specifically crime and law."

Kelly blinked, caught off guard by the comment. She searched her brain for a reason this topic would be relevant, but couldn't for the life of her make a connection.

Unprompted Mordin went on, "You were studying criminology. Canada was an interesting culture of its time. Had a very ethical, moral even, policy for crime. The law protected people to an astonishing degree. Yet left much room for 'human' error. Room for correction of error. In comparison to the United States of America, it was much more flexible. More concerned with rehabilitation. Canadian law describable as compassionate." Mordin sighed, pulling away from Kelly. For a moment Kelly was struck by how similar their positions were to when they first met, a month ago.

"Also considered very liberal. Lower crime rates. Anti-gun laws. No capital punishment. Very similar to many modern cultures. Unsurprising you have difficulty reaching for a gun. Cultural norms of your origins would suggest you detest them as weapons. You lived in a culture where each death was a murder, a life lost. Killing will be difficult for you." Mordin looked at Kelly carefully, trying to read her alien expression. "Is necessary if you intend to survive. Necessary if you intend to protect others. Necessary if you wish to interfere in the story you prepare for."

"I know." Kelly whispered harshly. "I know. I know, but I... Tara almost died because I couldn't... If I had just gone for my gun to begin with, or shot him when I had control of his arm I could've- But I couldn't. It's so stupid! I tried to fight him, but he was bigger and stronger than me, and I know should have drawn a gun, I know I can." Tears of frustration began to fall down Kelly's cheeks, but her voice never raised above a violent whisper. "You showed me how, and I'm fast. I was fast enough to get him. I was better than him. But I couldn't. I thought I would, when I had to. When I knew I had no choice. But I can't. Killing is wrong. Even though it wasn't my choice, even though he was going to kill Tara, and then me, I couldn't do it. I don't..." Kelly cut off herself with a harsh intake of breath.

"Killing is wrong" Mordin agreed, ignoring the shock on Kelly's face. "It is evil to take life, to destroy and cause pain and suffering. Is worse to passively allow evil to happen. Take life to preserve it. Not for money or vengeance. Not for jealousy or rage. Killing is still evil. It is sometimes necessary evil. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms held that every person was entitled to the security of the person. This right was subject to section one's reasonable limitations of rights. It is arguable that when a person violates the right of security of another, she forfeits her own right." Mordin gently laid a comforting hand on Kelly's shoulder and asked, "Is it not better to end one life and save many lives? If one person chooses to end the lives of others, she deserves only the same consideration of her victims. Take life, to save life. It is necessary."

"But if the ends justify the means... What are we fighting for? If we become our enemies, what was the point of fighting at all?" Kelly asked shakily. She hugged herself, trying to fight off a cold that seemed to come from within. Each of Mordin's words had fallen into her like rocks in a well. She was nearly shivering from the echoes.

"We remain different from our enemies because of why we act. Because there are lines we will not cross. We remember each life we take. Try to save more lives than we take." Mordin lifted Kelly's chin, mindful of her bruise and looked into her eyes. "Protecting others requires more than heroics. Sometimes we must do evil so they do not have to. We protect those we care about from more than pain or death. We protect their souls. A protector does what is necessary. To be a protector you must accept this."

"I don't know if I can."

"If you do not, someone will die."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note: <strong>__Lady Kopaka I lied, took me a little longer than 36 hours to post this from our discussion, but I hope you think it was worth the wait. Again I struggled with this chapter. I forgot how difficult writing is. I suppose a decade of writer's block will do that to a person. Again thanks you to my lovely reviewers and all those who faved and alerted. I'm uncomfortable with how giddy it makes me when I get that attention. Says poor things about my need for attention and validation from others. _

_Thank you again for being first to catch my stories theifkingbakura1. I'm happy to have graduated to being loved SweatyDreamer, and I hope you enjoy this story just as much too. Thanks for the ideas Stiphyell, but I believe you owe me 5 bucks, and no I didn't cheat, this chapter was planned before hand. A compliment of realism in such a setting is high praise indeed Vilku... and as for the mistake you caught... gone now, thanks. And Titus Tatius you sure know how to make a girl blush, anti-Garrus indeed. Thanks to one and all, I hope to hear your thoughts on this chapter too... and I'll stop talking now, don't you hate when author's notes go on forever?_


	3. A Kind of Sound

Written 06/20/11

Disclaimer: If I owned Mass Effect I wouldn't be killing myself doing the LSAT.

_We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done._

_Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

A Kind of Sound

"Enough. Shall continue rifle practice next session. For now remember to aim lower. Shots deviate consistently approximately 10cm above target." Mordin lectured, unfolding from his point of observation, a seat near the door of the shed. He went to hologram controls, deactivating it.

"My aim could be bad... Or it could be the lovely new bruise decorating my jaw. Or the consequential deep pain that keeps throwing me off. Or the adrenaline aftershocks. Any of the above really." Kelly sighed, shouldering her new rifle. Mordin had been as nonchalant about the batarian thug, as he was about every other dangerous thing on Omega. He had decided that Kelly's training session should continue as planned, despite her pointed protests.

Mordin had installed a holographic projector into the back shed. The projector was capable of running various training simulations. He had left most of the containers, empty and not so empty, in the shed to serve as obstacles and cover. It was still relatively unclear exactly what was supposed to be in the containers, and what was still in some of them. Kelly strongly suspected it was either more empty Tupari cans or items of an inexact and dangerous nature. Either way, she always felt stongly inclined to avoid shooting the containers. And people accused her of having no survival instincts.

Mordin himself had also taken advantage of the training facility so close to the clinic. The doctor was nearly always found either treating patients in the clinic, or practicing in the back, when he wasn't training Kelly that is. Dr. Koma had spent a week after the installation of the holo-trainer, bemoaning the fact that Mordin was now spending _more_ time at the clinic, something she hadn't conceived as possible. The two doctors argument over the exact amount of sleep a healthy salarian required, especially one in his early thirties, had been intense. Kelly had briefly worried the quarian doctor might take it upon herself to actually drug Mordin, but Tara seemed to have desisted. Of course Dr. Koma still strongly disapproved of Kelly's training sessions. Some people were never happy.

"Injuries are common in combat. Ability to fight despite injuries is vital to survival. Adapt, overcome, succeed. Now initiating melee simulation zero-zero-nine." Mordin said, typing into the counsel, "Zero-zero-nine emphasizes aerobic exercise and improves reflexes. Will begin at fourth level. Retrieve weapon." The images of the rifle training exercise faded away to be replaced by a new scenario. Three vaguely humanoid figures, devoid of features such as faces or clothing, appeared in a straight line in the middle of the front of the room, an area that was clear of containers or other debris.

Kelly put her rifle to the side, propping it against a wall with her other weapons. She traded the rifle for an object that vaguely resembled a straight lead pipe, though Kelly was almost certain she had no idea what material the pole was actually made of.

Kelly had changed out of her under armour and into sports clothes intended for batarians. Khar'shan was a very warm planet, and the clothing left most of her skin bare. Kelly shivered briefly as the cold metal of the pole brushed against her skin as she swung it around lazily to loosen her muscles. The pole was somewhere around 75cm long, and was thick enough that Kelly's hand couldn't close around it fully. It was also heavy enough to sting madly whenever she clipped herself with a swing.

She stepped up to the three figures and took her position. "Ready," she told Mordin, focusing on the holographic adversaries. Mordin activated the program and returned to his point of observation. From his perch he could see every move Kelly made, and every mistake. He was quite happy to share these observations with her too. Usually he would set the programs and go see to patients, but it was a slow day. Which could have been related to the robbery attempt.

Two of the holo figures moved forward to stand in front of Kelly at an angle, the three of them forming a semi-circle in front of her. Their hands blurred and each of them grew a pole, similar to the one Kelly bore. Without warning the middle figure struck at Kelly. She raised her pole blocking it and countering with a quick strike to the automaton's head. Though the projected pole had clacked solidly against Kelly's own weapon, the head of the projected foe gave with a feeling not unlike forcing a finger through jam. The program chimed, counting the hit, and then the other projections began attacking.

It was impossible to block all three at once, as was the point of the simulation, and Kelly was forced to dodge, or at least attempt to dodge, whatever blows that she couldn't deflect. The projector chimed and buzzed intermittently as Kelly struck blows and took them. After the sixth time a strike connected from the left simulation Mordin called out, "Lead with right, but remember left. Compensate for vulnerability of left side by adjusting position. Remember footwork. Remember breathing."

With a steadying breath Kelly adjusted her stance and continued to combat the projections. Following Mordin's instruction, she forced herself to quicken her feet. The adjustment had the desired affect and Kelly was able to defend her left side better. Of course the downside of futuristic training technology is that it can perceive when the user has adapted, and respond in kind. The strikes from the program began to become more fluid and varied. Kelly found herself defending herself from high and low blows, and was barely finding any openings to strike back. She grinned viciously, finally deflecting a blow that opened the middle foe for attack. Kelly spun the pole in her hand dragging the pole through the holo's collarbone, through the chest and out the hip. The projector chimed, but the left holo took advantage of Kelly' opening and stepped forward with an overhand blow.

Catching the movement, Kelly twisted her body around and catching the downward stroke drawing her arm across her body and holding the pole flat. Her grin widened, but then vanished. Kelly felt solid buzzing of the third foe's pole rest against the back of her neck. She had forgotten about it and left her entire back exposed. The projector buzzed loudly, exclaiming her failure.

Mordin went over to the controls, shutting down the simulation and Kelly collapsed to the ground breathing heavily. Sweating she laid back on the ground, welcoming the cool metal against her hot skin. Mordin walked over to stand by her head and looked down at her. "Rapid improvement. Impressive implementation of stance correction mid-combat. Very good. Unusual. How do you show such talent for a primitive weapon? Firearms developed prior to Earth's twenty-first century. Preferred in all countries for battle."

Sitting up off the ground Kelly answered, "Humans practice primitive combat techniques for sport. I leanred a little martial arts, but we moved before I could get anywhere above basics. I took some lessons in kali, half the course actually. So I learned about five single pole strikes and never made it to the part where they teach you to use two at once."

"Your current aptitude comes from the brief experience?" Mordin questioned.

"No. I grew a little obsessed with swinging and throwing the pole around, trying to figure out how to use them. I managed to figure out a few tricks and gain control, but I always felt more like I was practicing to be a baton twirler. I never did figure out how to use two at once." Standing back up Kelly shooed Mordin back and levelled the pole in front of her. She flicked her wrist and threw the pole over itself, catching the other end by barely moving her hand. Then tilting the pole down and across her body, she flicked it over the back of her hand, rolling it down several times until she grasped it in the middle. Then she began spinning it around her fingers. It was too big to lace through her fingers, but she spun it between her three long fingers and then dropped it into her thumb, and then with a twist of her wrist back into her fingers.

"Interesting talent. But melee weapons areof little consequence in modern world. Good for aerobic exercise." Mordin said watching Kelly' little display.

With a flourish she changed the spinning into a few quick strikes. "True, but it's kind of meditative. Sometimes I just get an itch that doesn't go away until a play with a stick."

"Can prescribe a cream for that."

"It's a metaphorical itch." Kelly sighed and put the pole down to check her omni-tool. "Is that it for today Dr. Solus?"

"Yes, good progress. Have forwarded some readings to your omni-tool. New issue of _Journal of Intergalactic Criminology_ has some interesting articles this month. Would like to hear your opinion on the articles about humans." Mordin went back to the terminal and entered more commands.

"Will there be a test this time?" Kelly asked, not quite able to keep the suspicion out of her tone. Mordin's lack of response was not entirely comforting. Kelly gathered her things trying to get a straight answer from Mordin. She left the shed to towel off and change in an empty patient room, she wouldn't be able to clean off completely until she got back to the apartment. Mordin was setting up one of his own training simulations when she left. A simulation that would be improbable in its difficulty, as Kelly had seen before. Yet Mordin would decimate it with a level of skill that made Kelly feel wholly inadequate. Not a bad quality in a mentor though.

Kelly did head back to the apartment, gleefully enjoying the conveniences of futuristic technology. Her bath was waiting for her, and she could read a projection of her reading assignments in the tub. She was loathe to admit it, but she found the scientific journals of this dimension fascinating. She was startled when her VI later informed her that she was due for her shift in approximately _._ The article comparing the human capacity for deception with the turian inability to effectively deceive was fascinating. In a rush she towelled off, dressed, and sucked down another nutrient flavourless paste, this one with thirty percent less gagging guaranteed.

Out the door in record time, fully dressed and armed, there was no one to greet her in the halls this time. The guards and dancers had the same shift lengths, but they needed to come in earlier to prepare for the shows. Despite the portrayal of the club in the game, the dancers needed a more... _elaborate_ show than rhythmic gyrating, in PG stripperesque uniforms.

Escaping the improbably slow elevator, Kelly headed out of the building and into the busy streets. She ignored the remarks that she had grown accustomed to hearing whenever she was out in public. Out in public and not in full armour. The least among the comments being _pyjack, monkey, _and _mammal_. Kelly made her way to Afterlife, well aware she was dangerously close to being late.

Bypassing the main entrance, and thus the large and crowded plaza, Kelly headed for an employee only door that would lead her into the back rooms of lower Afterlife. She had guarded the door on more than one occasion herself, but apparently she lacked the certain size an effective bouncer required and hadn't been assigned to it very often. There may have been other qualities she lacked for the job. There probably were but she didn't care too much, it was mostly a quiet position.

Today the guard was a member of fifth squad, a smaller framed turian, but only by turian standards. As was par per course in this future he was head and shoulders taller than Kelly. Gene modifications really were getting on Kelly's nerve. The only species she didn't have to look up at, were volus. "Kelly, you're being blessed the spirits today," the turian told her as she approached, "Or cursed. It could go either way." His eyes twinkled humorously above the white bar of the markings that cut across his face.

"Oh that's not ominous at all Tatius. Care to elaborate, or should I try contacting the spirits directly?" Kelly asked escaping the crowd and going to the door.

"Captain wants to talk to you," Tatius told her.

"Talk to me about what?" Kelly asked warily, suddenly concerned she might actually end up in close contact with the afore mentioned spirits.

Tatius unhooked a hand from his gun to gesture dismissively. "Mission maybe? All I know is the Captain told the Lieutenant, who told Herschel, who ordered me to stand here, and guard the virtue of our lovely asari performers and to relay the Captain's order to you when you arrived."

"A mission? And next you'll be telling me hell froze over and ice skate rentals are on the house." Kelly let herself in the door, ignoring the turian's look of confusion. Colloquial English phrases usually got that response.

Bypassing the change rooms Kelly went to the door of the Captain's office. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should put go back and put on her armour, but she dismissed that thought. It was unlikely he wanted to shoot her. Not impossible, but improbable. It couldn't hurt though...

Throwing aside her trepidations, she knocked on the door and called, "Captain? It's Kelly, you wanted to speak to me?" Kelly flinched as door hissed open of its own accord. Not all of her trepidation was willing to be disgarded.

She stepped into the office, warily. It was larger than Alessa's office, much more nicely furnished too, nice big desk, large terminal, luxurious couch. Kelly doubted Captains in C Sec had offices like this. Captain Boros was standing on the other side of his desk, frowning, well he always frowned at Kelly, but it seemed a hair more pronounced this time. Boros's skin was a mottled mixture of black and green, he was tall and broad, and carried himself with authority. His upper two eyes had been put out sometime ago, judging by the faded scarring.

Kelly was already surprised to be called into the Captain's office, it had only happened once before. It was more surprising that Aria was also there, lounging casually on a couch. She glanced back and forth between the two, not sure who to look at. Like choosing whether to pay attention to the lion or the tiger.

"Kelly I've been waiting for you," Aria said calmly. Hearing her voice left no doubt in Kelly's mind, who exactly was the biggest cat in the room. She turned all her attentions to the asari.

"Aria has requested your," Boros searched for a word, "assistance." He said the word with distaste. "She has need of your unique talents."

"Unique talents?" Kelly repeated questioningly. That wasn't exactly promising, but it didn't seem to forebode her execution. Kelly tenseness reduced from being trapped in front of speeding train, to facing down a hungry rabid bear.

"Unique as far as my staff is concerned," Aria offered.

"Aria has finally found a use for you. In an hour we'll be having a meeting with a Blue Sun representative. A _human_ male." Boros said human like it hurt his vocal cords. He usually did.

"If they sent a turian or a batarian, I wouldn't need you there. Even human females are quite similar to asari, surprisingly. Well not you, but in general." Aria added. "Tarak's counting on the fact that I don't have any human guards." She said, smiling the smile of a content predator.

Kelly was unsure of exactly what the two were getting at. What exactly set a human male apart from everyone else? What was her apparent expertise in this area? "Um, not to be slow, but what exactly do you need me to do?"

Boros snorted. "We need you to stand in the meeting. Watch the human, and tell us afterwards, if he lied," Boros said, his tone condescending. "Tarak is counting on none of us being able to read human body language, or tone. The human thinks he will only be dealing with aliens."

"Which is why you'll be in full armour, tucked away in a corner of a room. The human either won't notice you. Or if does, he'll assume you're an asari. And if he slips up, you'll know, and then I'll know. Tarak will believe he has the advantage, and so his messenger will. With his guard lowered, he'll be sloppy," Aria concluded smugly.

"Okay I get it. You want me to play human analyst. I can do that," Kelly agreed. "I'll need a clear view of his face." Thoughtfully she suggested, "It wouldn't hurt to get him to drink. May loosen his tongue, especially if he's not being cautious to begin with. What's the meeting about? I need some context to help understand him."

"You don't need to know that," Boros grumbled warningly at Kelly.

"Tarak wants to begin forging a new alliance with me. He feels that he has erred in his past, and let bygones be bygones. This is an initial negotiation, he sends me a Captain, I send him one if this goes well. But the only part of this I trust is that Tarak would die before making genuine overtures of friendship towards me," Aria stood and walked to Kelly, looking her in the eye. "You're role is to tell me your impressions of what he says, how he says it, and everything else you can deduce from his behaviour. If he twitches in such a way you suspect he has fantasies about dancing hanar, you will tell me if it's ballet or krogan battle dances."

"Yes ma'am," Kelly responded almost involuntarily. It had only gotten more difficult to do anything other than agree with Aria when she made direct eye contact like this. Even articulation had escaped Kelly on occasion.

Boros didn't ever seem to have difficulty speaking however. "I still don't think this is wise. She's a liability Aria. A human girl has no place in this. She won't pick up anything that we can't."

Aria turned from Kelly to look back at Boros. Kelly couldn't see Aria's eyes anymore, and wondered if they were just as penetrating turned upon him, as they had been upon her. "Kelly has spent her entire life among humans. She has a natural advantage. And I want that advantage Boros." Aria finished, her voice holding enough of a threat to any future argument, that she didn't need to say one aloud.

"Aria's will be done then," Kelly quipped, only half joking.

Aria turned back, this time without the threatening weight in her eyes and a smile on her lips. "Aria's will be done. It's always so nice to hear that."

"Get suited up and into my box. Do not forget your helmet," Aria said and moved to leave.

"Just one thing," Kelly said, causing Aria to pause, "Can I ask any questions, or speak during the meeting."

"No, it would be inappropriate for a lesser guard to speak to a Blue Sun Captain," Boros responded.

"Then try to ask questions that might catch him off guard. A few personal ones might help me figure him out better. Just directly questioning him about Tarak's real intentions could work, but might insult him. Humans are complicated, well everyone's complicated. Just keep in mind, the the more he says, the better I'll be able to understand him." Kelly said, hoping to live up her to words. She may have an advantage reading humans over a batarian or an asari, but she was hardly a mind reader. On more than one occasion she'd been berated by friends for not picking up on subtle social cues. Before Omega. Strangely enough she tended to be quite apt at understanding alien body language, or at least she hoped so.

"I know you won't disappoint me," Aria said with a cold smile. Aria left the office, door closing snugly behind her. The room seemed a lot emptier after she left, as if a large and looming crowd had gone, instead of only one person.

"You will receive the standard mission bonus in your next pay cheque," Boros said, bringing Kelly's attention back to him. He had sat once Aria had left. Batarians only sat down in a commanding officer's presence when permission was given, or as a blatant insult. Kelly had heard stories about the last time someone had sat down without permission in Boros's presence. Not coincidently, she'd never met the guards the stories were about.

"Do not assume this means anything. You do not belong here," Boros went on, glaring at Kelly. "I will tolerate your presence until the inevitable happens, but if you embarrass me, you will find me significantly less friendly in the future. Now go arm up and report to Aria's receiving room on the upper level." He turned to his terminal, no longer paying the human girl any attention.

Now a slightly saner woman would have quietly left at this point. But Kelly's sanity had been in question before adjusting to life in a fictional universe. "What do you mean the inevitable happens?" she asked. "Captain," she hastily added respectfully, when he glared back up at her from his terminal.

"A Sec has no place for a soft human girl child," Captain Boros declared with a certain solemnity. "Either you'll eventually realize that and leave, maybe not Omega, but at least the guard, or you'll find death. Regardless you won't be my burden anymore."

"I might surprise you."

"Get out," Boros said, patience running thin, "You have work to do."

Finally biting her tongue, Kelly turned, and walked out of Captain Boros's office. One ordeal done with, one more to go. Now she just needed to survive on her social skills. This could go well. Statistically speaking, it was possible.

_**Author's note:**__ Now might be a good time to mention how bad I am at following a schedule. At least the prolonged absence this time was contributed to by preparing for the LSAT. Now some of the more savvy among you might point out that was weeks ago. To you I say, HUSH, no need to ruin a good excuse._

_Thank you Stilphyell, amazing is high complement, and don't be afraid to bet against me, I have these stories planned out before I write them there's always a chance to win. Also, the meeting between Kelly and the Commander is a long way from now, you'll get a better idea as we go along, or not, I might just surprise everyone. theifkingbakura1 not first this time? Combo breaker. And you're right, Kelly can't rely on super Mordin forever, but he's just so darn convenient. I'm glad you like Taelo, kinda think I may have overdone him though. Well anyways, hope you, and everyone else, enjoyed this chapter too!_


	4. A Kind of Smell

Written 07/15/11

Disclaimer: If I owned Mass Effect, it would never have gotten done.

_A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open._

_Francis Bacon_

A Kind of Smell

Captain Julio Cruz was not an old man. Thirty didn't seem very old from the other side of the decade. Thirty-five years for a human in the world of modern medicine, seemed barely past the cusp of adulthood. In a galaxy with beings that could live a thousand years, thirty-five seemed a nearly infantile age. But it was amazing how fifteen odd years of blood and suffering could age a man.

True it was rarely his own pain and suffering, but it was the principle of it. Julio had survived brawls, skirmishes, battles, campaigns and wars. He could tell the difference between a scream of fear, and a scream of pain. He'd caused enough of both to develop a certain familiarity with both. He'd fought his way to his rank, climbing over the corpses of his superior officers, who had sometimes died of unrelated causes. He considered himself by all reasonable measures a man not easily shaken.

Which was why Tarak had chosen him for this mission. All he had to do was stare down the pretentious, asari whore, with delusions of grandeur, Aria, and pass on the intelligence that Tarak had given to him. Omega was ready for a change, and Cruz was the linchpin in the Blue Sun plan for change. Aria's regime was stagnated and backwards, one ruler couldn't hold Omega together indefinitely. Humans had been a part of the galaxy for nearly thirty years, had started moving as far into the galaxy as the Terminus systems, yet the incontinent old witch hadn't bothered to add any humans to her staff. Tarak was venturing that Cruz's humanity would throw Aria off.

Cruz pushed through Afterlife's throngs of dancers, the alien flesh writhed and pulsed in the pulsating lights. It was nauseating. The choking stench of the sweat and heat surrounded and suffocated him. He thrust aside a salarian who turned back to Cruz in anger, ready to defend himself, only to quail at the sight of the large human man in full armour. If Tarak hadn't outright forbade Cruz from wearing a helmet to this meeting, his armour would have been complete. But apparently it was an insult among four eyed fucks.

Finally escaping the semi-sentient mass of limbs and pelvises, Cruz took a breath of the slightly fresher recycled air and strode purposefully to the stairs which led up to Aria's balcony. Cruz had seen other guards spread haphazardly around the club, but Aria had only bothered to place one guard on the entrance to her throne room. Arrogance like that wasn't healthy in the Terminus system, Cruz was incredulous of such a stupid female could have so much power over Omega.

The turian guarding the stairs stepped forward as the Blue Sun Captain approached. The turian didn't bother to raise his gun at Cruz, though he did glare a little harder. Cruz did his best to look harmless and charming, though granted, it wasn't one of his better talents. But what did he care? Cuttlebone couldn't tell the difference a snarl of hatred and a come on. Best that he not do any snarling.

"Tarak sent you?" the turian asked him, bold as brass. Now Cruz didn't have anything against turians per say, he just didn't trust them.

"Yes. I am here to open negotiations with Aria on behalf of the Blue Suns, at the behest of our leader Tarak." Cruz smiled crookedly, restraining a twitch that would turn the smile to a frown. Why was this turian wasting his time?

"Aria's expecting you." The turian said moving aside with a shrug.

Not even trying to keep the pretence of a smile anymore, Cruz marched up the winding stairs. Aria's little throne room was larger and higher than it looked from afar, and the primitive stairs one needed to clamber up to reach it, were certainly steep enough. She probably didn't have to put up with many visiting volus.

There was no door blocking Cruz's way into Aria's throne room. Cruz stepped into the room and was surprised by how many people had managed to fit inside. The room was peppered with nearly naked asari, all of them throwing themselves at anyone showing the slightest bit of interest, among those being some of the many black armoured guards propping up the walls. There were other aliens in the room, most of them wealthy groupies, hoping to find a thrill among Aria's whores, if not favour from the Queen of Babylon herself.

Aria was draped over a plush couch, on a raised platform, looking out over her hedonistic court. Cruz wasted no time approaching the presumptuous Madame, taking time to note the guards on her platform. All her guards were wearing helmets, but if she thought he wouldn't be able to tell she had two turians, a batarian and one asari guard at her back, she really was blinded by her own hubris. Like a little biotic could make a difference against him. Not that he was here to fight of course.

Chatter in the room died away as the obvious outsider approached Aria's throne. Her eyes fixed on Cruz as she approached, and Cruz stared back, taking this chance to study the self-proclaimed queen of Omega. She had adorned herself in sinful amounts of silk and leather, and as she shifted to sit up straight, he caught glimpses of sumptuous purple flesh revealed by shifting fabrics. Cruz didn't think he kept the look of disgust off his face entirely.

The room had settled to whispers as he climbed up the platform to stand before Aria. Stares bored into Cruz from every angle, trying to burn away his armour and see what was inside no doubt. Startling enough, Aria's eyes seemed to blaze the brightest of them all. He could see how lesser men might find themselves enraptured by this dark incubus. Her eyes seemed to burn into him, search for his own sins and so she could lay them bare before him.

Cruz shook himself from Aria's spell and announced himself. "I am Captain Julio Cruz. I represent Tarak, leader of the Blue Sun. He sends his greetings and best wishes."

Aria smiled, a gentle and slow curling of her lips and greeted Cruz. "Welcome Julio. Welcome to Afterlife. I am Aria. What does Tarak want?"

"I beg your indulgence," Cruz ground out reluctantly. He hated crawling on his belly before this she-devil. "Tarak has come to regret the past disagreements between you and the Blue Sun, and has decided to pursue a new policy. He wishes to open negotiations for an alliance with the esteemed... ruler of Omega." Tarak had written down exactly what he wanted Cruz to say, and had drilled him on it endlessly.

Aria let the title hang in the air for a moment, letting Cruz's resentment fester. Then she smiled genially, and waved for a seat to be brought forward for Cruz to sit on. A second wave brought forward some drinks, poured by one of the many less than adequately clad asari present.

Aria leaned forward in her seat and rested her chin on her clasped hands. She took a moment to examine Cruz as he sipped some of the proffered drink. He glared back at Aria, only a subtle crinkling around his eyes betrayed his frustration.

"That's nice. Very polite. Now I'm going to ask again. What does Tarak want?" Aria demanded sharply, making the Blue Sun Captain choke and cough on his drink.

Pounding on his chest, through his heavy armour, Cruz cleared his throat. "Well you're certainly to the point," he managed to choke out. Settling himself, he ignored the quiet giggles from the crowd that still looked on. "For now Tarak simply wishes for a cease fire. Blue Sun will make no war on your forces, and A Sec will not attack any members of Blue Sun. From there we can negotiate terms of an alliance between our forces."

Aria regarded Cruz through half lidded eyes, eyes that seemed to poor over him. Cruz felt he could almost see the dark thoughts swimming behind those thoughtful eyes. "How old are you Cruz?" Aria asked casually.

"What, uh-" Cruz stumbled over his words hesitating. Tarak had taken time to drill him in the exact words to say, Tarak had been sure of what Aria would do, what she would say, what she would ask. Tarak hadn't expected Aria to look to closely at messenger, just the message should have concerned her. "I'm thirty five years old." Cruz answered Aria honestly, his age wasn't something worth lying over.

"Thirty five?" Aria seemed amused. "Asari are barely considered adults at thirty five Julio." She stood up, turning her back on Cruz, and walked, well sashayed really, to a window. She looked out on her own personal corner of hell and went on, "Do you know how old I am Julio?"

When Aria failed to go on, Cruz reluctantly answered what he was sure had been a rhetorical question. "I would not dare to presume a lady's age," Cruz ground out, nearly cracking a tooth on the words.

"I was more than three times your age when I first arrived on Omega, and I have been its mistress for much, much longer than that." Cruz couldn't help but find the title, 'mistress' appropriate.

"In that amount of time I have had allies become enemies, enemies become allies, back and forth, and back again. You wish for me to become your ally Julio, but why? Why should I trust you? How can I trust the Blue Sun, Julio?" When Aria spoke Cruz's name she turned to look at him again, twisting her lithe purple form around, curves spilling over each other. Julio, once again pinned under her gaze, shuddered.

"An ally's strength is our own, and Blue Sun wants strong allies. We share our strength Aria, and we all become stronger. As proof of our good intentions, I offer a token on behalf of Tarak." Cruz raised his omni-tool and activated a preset command. "Information. A next generation weapons shipment is coming through Omega, headed to Illium, for Eclipse and security for private citizens, other self important asari. They pay neither of us any tax, any respect and have only guarded their precious cargo with minimal security. A plum ripe for the picking." Cruz sweated, this was it. Aria needed to accept this gift or Tarak would be very displeased.

Aria's face hadn't shifted from its look of perpetual boredom. Almost disinterestedly she circled her own platform, trailing her fingertips across the windows, and each guard in turn as she passed. Cruz bit his lip restraining a curse. Asari, always had to draw every damn thing out, he had half a mind to grab her and shake until her answer popped out from between those alien purple lips. The image was entertaining enough that Cruz could settle himself.

Aria settled herself on her throne again, regally draped across the couch like a particularly malevolent cat. "I accept this gift from the Blue Sun. I will see to those who would do business on my station and pretend to owe me nothing. For now I will give you your cease fire. After business is taken care of, I'll send my own representative to the Blue Sun, to continue our negotiations for an alliance."

A small slump of Cruz's shoulders was all that betrayed his relief. The human put down his barely sampled drink and drew himself up out of his seat. "Thank you for your time." Cruz hesitated. Batarian culture was strict here, as was Tarak. Cruz had been ordered to bow to Aria until she dismissed him, the gesture of an inferior to a ruler. Cruz was not inferior to this female, not in any form or fashion. It was so far from true he didn't know if he could even feign it.

A jerky full bodied nod, a slight tilt forward at the waist, barely perceptible enough to be acknowledged as a bow, was all the Cruz could manage. He could only mange the facsimile of a gesture for a breath before returning to a rigid upright posture. He hesitated for a moment, his mouth shaping syllables that died before they were given any breath. Aria cocked a brow at Cruz, watching his internal struggle bubble over. Cruz gripped his uncertainty firmly and crushed it down. Tightening his lips, in nothing that resembled a smile, Cruz turned on his heel and marched out of Aria's sight.

Kelly's helmet opened with a hiss, and she breathed a small sigh of relief. There never was a helmet made that wasn't stifling hot and claustrophobically blinding. Despite its discomfort, it at least had hidden Kelly's entirely human face.

The Blue Sun Captain hadn't given Kelly a second glance during his long conversation with Aria. A conversation of much bowing and scraping, tinted by barely concealed contempt, if not downright anger. His words had all come out placidly enough, but the tone, the expressions... Even Kelly could tell that Cruz had not been happy to be Aria's supplicant for Tarak.

People began filing out of Aria's box quickly enough, the show was over, and everyone had a job to do. And it had been a show, Aria really knew how to make an impression. Smoke and mirrors, so many different stories, and versions. Kelly was never entirely sure which Aria was the real one.

Cracking her neck and shoulders, stiff from stillness, Kelly approached Aria. The Asari hadn't bothered to move from her perch, but after dismissing the room Aria had fallen into deep thought. She was not startled however, when Boros and Kelly stepped forward. She lifted a hand, motioning for them to wait for the last of the cast to exit the box.

Boros, who had hidden in plain sight with Kelly at Aria's back, was the first to speak when the room emptied. "Disrespectful scum, Tarak was a fool to send that _human_."

"You're not wrong. Julio really was not happy to be here. He really didn't like you Aria," Kelly said, eyeing an empty chair speculatively. A quick glance at Boros made her reconsider though, no sitting down on the job.

"No I don't think Julio was enjoying himself at all," Aria mused. Straightening into a stronger sitting position, Aria looked at Kelly expectantly, "Report," she ordered.

"Captain Julio Cruz thinks you're the antichrist, either that or you murdered his entire family and he's on an eternal quest of vengeance… You didn't kill his family did you?" Kelly asked, half seriously.

"Not that I can recall," Aria answered.

"Well that's good. Nearly everything he said was rehearsed, very rehearsed. He really wasn't a very good actor, or he just didn't care if his emotions showed. I don't know if the proposition was sincere, but I don't think he knew either." Kelly shrugged, the conversation had been tense, but hadn't really lasted very long.

"Tarak doesn't trust anyone, let alone one of his Captains. Tarak is always playing games with people, telling everyone a different story. He drips bile from a rotted tongue." Boros admitted scathingly.

"The information about the weapons, the gift, he was sweating when he gave you that. He was desperate for you to accept Tarak's info on this shipment."

"Well of course he was, it's a trap," Aria told Boros and Kelly candidly. Boros nodded nonplussed, but Kelly's features flit with subdued surprise. Surprise at how candidly both Boros and Aria accepted the premise of a trap.

"Yes, definitely, but what part of it is the trap?" Boros crossed his arms in contemplation.

"Tarak never lies when he can tell the truth. He thinks it's clever." Aria made a small sound, that from anyone else could have been called a snort.

"Permission to form a squad to pursue the information?" Boros uncrossed his arms and stood straight at attention.

Aria waved casually at Boros. "Permission granted. I trust you'll take the necessary precautions Boros?"

"Three man squad to minimize presence, but strong in case of any heavy opposition. Aelianus from fourth squad has expertise in both heavy weapons and close range combat. Roustous from sixth squad has the bearing of a mountain, but steps lightly. If I lead them we shall be capable of infiltration or demolition." Boros's choices were both turians from lower Afterlife, Roustous actually a part of Kelly's own squad.

Aria nodded in agreement with both of the choices. Kelly however was not as pleased. "What about me? I'm a part of this, I should go too." Boros turned to Kelly, unamused.

"This is a delicate situation, and we are relying on unreliable information. We deal with two enemies. One enemy is cunning, cruel and unforgiving of mistakes. The other is unknown. You are untried and untested, and you are not qualified for this mission," Boros told the young human.

"I didn't come to Omega to watch conferences and not be included in the real action."

"You should learn to hold your tongue girl." Boros growled at Kelly, insulted by how familiarly she argued with him. Yet nonetheless, Kelly went on.

"If you never give me a chance to learn, I'll never be qualified. I'm strong, quick and fast, and I can do this," she told Boros determinedly. Yet the half blinded batarian was unmoved, so Kelly switched tactics. "Look at it this way," she charmed, "either I die on the mission, and you're rid of me, never having to put up with little old human me again, or I gain valuable experience and increase my value as a guard. You win in either outcome." Kelly watched Boros as he actually considered the option. It only bothered her a little that Boros would consider her death a positive outcome.

But before Boros could make a decision either way, Aria cut in. "No. Boros is right, this is too dangerous for a unbloodied girl. You're eager, that's good, but there will be more opportunities for you to prove yourself Kelly. For now you're not ready, and this is too important for me to allow such a risk. Return to your post Squad Leader. Captain Boros I expect to be debriefed on the mission outcome on your return. And if you don't return, well then I also have a better understanding of Tarak's intentions." With that dismissal Boros bowed respectfully to Aria, Kelly following a heartbeat after. Unlike the Blue Sun Captain, Kelly was much better at concealing her own emotions, and swallowed her anger down. It would do her no good to argue with Aria.

They left Aria's box, not through a main door into the club, but through a partially concealed exit into the back halls of the club, a strictly employee only area. Boros strode purposefully down the hall, Kelly following a step behind him. They navigated their way through the back rooms of upper Afterlife, a place Kelly rarely visited, passing by guards Kelly rarely saw and interacted with even less. Boros received a few respectful glances, but Kelly was still a novelty and her passing was followed by more than a few whispers.

Boros was quick however, and he soon led them down into Afterlife's lower levels, his domain. Kelly contemplated whether she should follow the Captian all the way back to his office or peal off to her post. Actually there was a good chance that Tawsh would need to be prevented from punching someone about now, it was getting to be about that point in the shift.

Boros however derailed the young woman's train of thought when he came to a sudden stop on a stairwell. A suddenly much less populated portion of Afterlife's back rooms.

When Boros failed to begin the trek again, or to move at all, Kelly's sense of foreboding only grew. Kelly's fingers twitched and her guns suddenly became heavy on her back. Had Kelly finally done it? Had she pushed the old batarian too far? If Boros finally decided Kelly wasn't worth the effort to put up with, she didn't doubt he'd deal with her himself. And that he would do so with extreme prejudice. Maybe Kelly should have been a tad more polite.

"Girl," Boros's voice broke the silence, causing Kelly's to flinch violently. The batarian kept his back to her however, and he failed to notice her jump. "Why did you come to Omega?"

Startled, Kelly was only able to manage, "What?"

"You said why you did not come here. You have not said why you did. What is it you're fleeing from?" An inquisitive Boros wasn't a wholly new experience for Kelly. There had been a very brief interview when Aria initially recruited her, but he'd handed her off to Alessa shortly. He hadn't bothered to get personal with her.

"Who says I'm running from anything?" Kelly challenged, evading the question. A small voice in her head prayed that she hadn't done something to betray her strange origins. Not again.

Boros made a sound which caused another violent flinch from Kelly. After a moment she realized it was actually a harsh bark of laughter. Something she was entirely unfamiliar with, coming from Boros. "Everyone on Omega is running from something. It is the last refuge of refugees, the final destination of destiny. This is were people come when they have no place else to go."

"I just wanted to try something new," Kelly argued, feigning casualness. "I wanted to see the galaxy, get away from Earth. A ticket to Omega is all that I could afford." Kelly hadn't thought of a detailed cover story, something she was kicking herself for now. Of all the times she had thought poorly of a character for not having a good lie prepared for such a foreseeable question, how could she neglect to construct one for herself? Thinking quickly, Kelly tried to distract Boros. "Does that mean you're running away from something Captain?"

Again Kelly endured a moment of ominous silence from Boros. "It is unacceptable to question a superior officer without leave. A concept you seem to have great difficulty in grasping. In your position I would be more careful to censure myself," Boros replied coldly.

"Yes Captain." Kelly sweated, she had managed to divert the conversation but this hadn't been what she had in mind. All evidence to the contrary beside, she knew it wasn't a good idea to piss Boros off.

"Return to you shift Squad Leader. Send Sten Roustous to my office immediately, he will be unavailable for the remainder of his shift." Having not once turned to look at Kelly in their little heat-to-heart, Boros resumed his climb down the stairs.

"Yes Captain," Kelly repeated. She didn't move from her step, watching Boros reach the bottom landing. He kept walking, purposefully into the dimly lit back halls of lower Aferlife, each foot placed with profound certainty. Only when the narrow walls and low ceiling stole Boros from her sight, did Kelly shake the cobwebs from her head, and trot down the stairs.

_**Author's Note: **Well, well, well, it seems the dead can rise... Or at least post new chapters. I swear it wasn't mostly my fault this time. My computer died, at first by inches, and then I inadvertently finished it off. I saved my files, but borrowing my Mother's computer just was not conductive to inspiring the muse. I some how talked my way into a brand new computer, which does lack my usual word possessor, but praise the internet, I am instead using openoffice._

_ Thank you again theifkingbakura1, for the review. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoy getting your reviews. Thank you everyone for reading, and remember, feedback helps me to grow as a writer so I'll take any I can get._

_ And briefly in other news, I got 162 on my LSAT! YAY!_


	5. A Kind of Touch

Written 11/16/11

Disclaimer: I laugh in the face of canon.

_No one becomes depraved all at once._

_Juvenal_

A Kind of Touch

"What are you looking at?" A question responsible for an unconceivable plurality of bar fights. It had been uttered, mumbled and snarled across the galaxy, in different languages, by different people, under different circumstances, all united by a singular probable violent outcome. This time it was uttered by a young batarian, who as per tradition, had overindulged in his preferred poison, a nauseous drink, strong enough to make a krogan fuzzy.

The equally young turian, who'd been caught staring, flinched at the question. The poor thing had been brooding over what his parents would say when they learned he'd defected to the Blue Suns. Not a conversation he was looking forward to. Lost in thought he hadn't paid much attention to what he was looking at. "Nothing," he muttered, quickly averting his gaze back to his drink.

Lower A Sec was quieter than its counterpart, less dance floor, more tables. The more subdued music, thrummed deeply through the bodies huddled around their drinks or the edges of the stages. The hum of conversation broke when the batarian pulled himself to his feet, with more than a little effort, and pointed an accusing finger at the turian. "You calling me nothing? You dirty, rude, savage! I'm worth more of you than you could count." The batarian slurred drunkenly at the turian, eyes unfocused and swaying on his feet. "If turians could count, you stupid animal."

Eyes narrowing and mandibles flexing in anger and embarrassment, the turian was on his own feet in a flash. He lifted a hand, pulled close in a tight fist, it shook with his embarrassment. The turian trembled. Yet before he could decide what to do with the clenched fist, a third figure appeared between the two. They blinked, alcohol addling their respective reflexes.

"You are both going to sit down," the third said, her voice firm, "You are going to go back to your drinks. You will not continue with this incredibly stupid confrontation. You will do it right now, because I do not have the patience to deal with this today." It may seem unlikely that a short human female was able to glare the two drunken aliens into submission, in fact such a suggestion may prompt laughter more often than any other reaction. But stranger things have happened.

Standing in the darkened room Kelly breathed in the stale air of lower Afterlife. It smelled of sweat and alcohol. She stared down the turian first, who was quick enough to turn away. What she lacked in physical intimidation, she made up for with her black armour. The turian recognized the ink black armour of the lower Afterlife security, and it was enough to turn him back into his seat. The batarian's insult wasn't worth facing the wrath of A Sec.

When the batarian received the same glare, he was less than thrilled by the audacity of the human girl. But she glared into his eyes, somehow managing to meet all four of them at once. Even through his alcoholic haze he could feel the menace in the air. He could see it in her eyes that she was waiting for an excuse to be violent. Her gaze never wavered, not for a moment. The batarian broke away from the glare, fumbling back into his seat. She wasn't worth the trouble.

Kelly stepped back from the quarrel, glaring back and forth between the two for a moment. After a few moments the conversations which had died down in the excitement were picked up again, and the floor returned to its usual level of chaos. When Kelly was sure the two weren't going to turn back around, and renew their memberships to the ever exclusive, clichéd stupidity club, she turned her own back to them, stomping away, back to her niche of shadow where she could glower at her corner of the club.

Her mood had darkened quickly upon being sent back to duty by Boros. She had found Roustous and sent him to the Captain, and had found her teammate's usual terseness much more grating than usual. Roustous had a talent for communication, one which allowed him to convey a conversation's worth of meaning in but a few words. After sending Roustous on his way, a few of the dancers who'd been part of the hedonistic atmosphere during Cruz's visit took the time to track Kelly down, so they could question her about the event. This had only frustrated Kelly further. There's only so many times a girl can endure confessing that her Captain hadn't wanted her on his mission.

Her bad mood had quickly chased the dancers back to their posts. But not even the foulest of moods can chase away the most persistent.

"I heard that if humans make the same face too long, it gets stuck that way," Tawsh commented. She smiled broadly from her perch on the rusty railing of the elevation behind Kelly, pleased that she had made the little human jump in surprise. Tawsh hopped down, her heavy boots clanging against the metal floor, and casually flung an arm over the younger woman's shoulder, ignoring the glower that had been turned on her.

"I would have thought you'd been happier you know," Tawsh confessed, leaning heavily on the shorter woman.

Sourly, Kelly asked, "And why exactly, would you think that?" Despite her ire, Kelly didn't pull away from Tawsh, and allowed the batarian to pull her back so they were both leaning against a wall and looking out over the club.

"The way I see it, you get the best of both worlds this way," Tawsh shrugged, unintentionally shaking Kelly, "You got to do a mission, something important and, most importantly, you didn't have shoot anyone to do it. Isn't that exactly what you want?"

"No it's not."

"So you want to shoot someone then?" Tawsh asked, trying to understand.

"No."

Tawsh favoured Kelly with a sidelong look of impatience. "Okay, then what exactly do you want? Cause I think you're all out of options."

Kelly pulled away from Tawsh, and spun on her. "I don't know okay!" She burst, startling a few nearby cutomers who quickly moved away.

Tawsh however, was entirely unmoved by Kelly's outburst. Mildly she said, "No need to get upset about it." She crossed her arms patiently waiting for Kelly to go on.

Stunned, Kelly asked, "You- you're kidding right? You're telling me not to get upset? You! You're screwing with me, aren't you?" Exasperated, she threw her arms up in a huff of defeat.

Tawsh crossed her arms behind her head and shifted against the wall, trying in vain to find a comfortable position against the hard wall. "It's okay not to have all the answers you know, you're just a kid. Make a mistake every now and again, it won't kill you." She paused and reconsidered, "Well it might, but no one lives forever anyway."

Kelly opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated. Instead she sighed, and her shoulders fell. "It's just I've been... upset lately. This is nothing like what I thought it would be." She turned around and fell back into line next to Tawsh.

Eyeing the younger woman speculatively, Tawsh asked, "What's not like you thought it would be?"

"This. Everything. Omega. I thought I would be... Something else. But I'm just some punk, who can barely pay her rent." Then more quietly Kelly admitted, "And I'm homesick."

Tawsh wasn't sure what to say. Kelly had never shown such a vulnerable side before. She always seemed bold as brass. "Hey," Tawsh said, trying to put as much sympathy into that one eloquent syllable as she could. "That sucks." Tawsh grabbed Kelly's shoulder, and squeezed, trying to be comforting. It wasn't a skill Tawsh needed to employee often. "Cheer up kid. We're in this together, and we'll figure it out. One day, I'm sure you'll be some big damn hero."

Kelly's mouth twisted into a weak smile and she seemed rise out up from herself, standing with her usual bold posture. "Thanks. Sorry for getting upset."

Tawsh huffed in annoyance and swatted Kelly with the hand she'd been grasping the human's shoulder with. "You're emotionally constipated you know that?" Tawsh was incredulous at how badly humans seemed to handle their emotions.

"And you're a brute," Kelly said, returning Tawsh's swipe with a jab to her middle, smile quickly growing.

Suddenly a dancer shouted from across the floor, "Hey! Come on, please get off of me. I said let go! Dammit Eramanus!" Tawsh and Kelly's heads swung together towards the yelling. It was Blaire, a usually more reserved asari, of a paler blue complexion. Her uncharacteristic outburst was prompted by a regular customer, a rather uncouth turian, that had decided that after his fourth drink he'd magically been granted permission to touch the dancers.

"I think that's our cue Tawsh. Try not to hit him," Kelly said, striding quickly across the room, her boots ringing across the floor.

"I never mean to hit them, but I have terrible aim," Tawsh quipped following closely, and quickly passing Kelly with her longer stride.

The spindly turian had grabbed Blaire's arm and was pulling her to the edge of the low side stage, pulling her closer to him. Blaire tried to back away from Eramanus, but she lacked the leverage and strength to escape his grip. Tawsh however had no such difficulties.

"Now, now, Ermanus. I believe the lady wants you to let go." Tawsh said, reaching him first, her hand darting out to grab Ermanus by his offending forearm. She clenched her fist, squeezing the arm.

Kelly was only a few steps behind. "I'd have to agree that is what appearances suggest. But I'm open to hearing your own interpretation if you disagree. Do you disagree Ermanus?" Kelly asked genially. She came up to the turian from the other side, flanking him. Together Tawsh and Kelly and had effectively cornered Ermanus against the low stage. The other customers quickly pulled back from the spectacle, careful not to draw attention to themselves.

The bare faced turian lifted his free arm in a comedic gesture of surrender. "You two never let me have any fun," he joked lightly.

"You have too much fun. In all the worst ways, in all the wrong places," Tawsh said with a squeeze. She still seemed calm, but Kelly could already see the steam beginning to form. This needed to end quickly or Tawsh would get violent.

"You girls are wasted here on Omega. Why don't you go somewhere you'll be better appreciated? I'm sure C Sec would love to have your krogan sensibilities around," Ermanus told them scathingly. He shifted uncomfortably, caught between the three women.

"We'll be sure to work on our applications. After you let go of Blaire." Despite Kelly's order, perhaps because of Ermanus's protective alcoholic cocoon, he still kept his grip on the poor dancer. Blaire winced as Ermanus's talons cut into her soft skin, just as Tawsh's grip on Eramanus tightened. Blaire shot a frightened glance to Kelly. She needed to do something.

Kelly stepped forward into the much taller alien's personal space, and hooked two fingers onto the base of his cowl. She dragged him down to her eye level with a sudden jerk, stealing a small sound from his throat, she forced him to look her in the eye. "If you make me ask again Ermanus, you're out of here," she told him placidly, fingers locked on his cowl.

Frozen for a moment of shock, Ermanus recovered with a twitch that went from his face through his entire body, and released Blaire. She withdrew among the other dancers, rubbing her scratched and bruised arm, her look to Kelly and Tawsh was full of gratitude.

Tawsh and Kelly released Ermanus as he drew away from both of them. At his full height he was taller than them both, by quite a bit. He looked down at Kelly, hoping to regain some his dignity by intimidating her. She returned his gaze, patiently and unimpressed.

Tawsh rolled her eyes at the staring contest. "Are you done being impolite turian? Or do we need to ask you to leave?" She asked, clearly disappointed the whole thing hadn't devolved into an excuse for violence.

Ermanus hesitated before reluctantly looking away from Kelly. He favoured Tawsh with an apologetic expression. He almost looked sincere. "Look, I'm sorry alright. I had a hard day, and you know how I get after a few drinks. No harm done. I'll be good now, I promise." He even nearly sounded sincere.

Kelly looked away from Ermanus to trade a look with Tawsh. They did indeed know how Ermanus behaved after a few drinks. "Behave or we'll toss you out on your scales next time," Kelly threatened. Ermanus believed her too. There was something about the calmness of Kelly's threats that made them very believable.

The two women left Ermanus by the stage, trusting that their promise to toss him out would subdue him. Tawsh left Kelly with two winks and headed back to her own post, a floor above Kelly. With Boros borrowing Roustous from the sixth squad and Aelianus from the fourth, the two squads had been left shorthanded on the shift, which meant they had to spread out to cover all the levels of lower Afterlife.

Kelly returned to her own shadowy nook, feeling better for her chat with Tawsh and laying down the law with Ermanus. It always felt good to stand up to bullies, especially when she got to put the fear of god into them. She even began to tap her foot along to the beat of the omnipresent music.

After Ermanus was dealt with, the club's atmosphere stabilized quickly as the customers got back to their revelry. It was nearly the end of the sixth's squad first shift, they'd started during the second shift this time but this cycle they would have the third shift as well. Fourth squad had the first shift with the fifth squad, and fifth had changed with Kelly's squad for the second shift. Fourth would be replaced by fifth squad for the last shift of the cycle. The shifts rotated so each of the squads could get a break from straight ten hour shifts, but there always needed to be two squads on duty. Kelly had quickly found that it was at about the middle of the ten hour shifts when time seemed to drag on the longest. She often found herself unconsciously singing along with some of the music by this point, which didn't always leave her appearing all that dignified.

That was unless she could find something else to occupy herself with. Something new or strange. For example, the surprising presence of a certain Blue Sun Captain who Kelly had been sure fled the club as soon as his audience with Aria had ended. It was a presence that made Kelly double-take as she scanned the room.

Cruz was nursing a drink at a dark table in a corner of the room, nearly hidden by a drape of shadow. He was sitting with another man in Blue Sun armour, younger and less mean looking than the Captain. They seemed to arguing quietly between themselves.

Kelly took a moment to survey the situation. The two men had chosen a table that was difficult to approach without being seen. It was around a small corner that created a tight alcove, just wide enough to fit the small table. It was a good place to sit when there was a desire for privacy, unless that is, someone happened to notice a small gap between the wall and a nearby pillar. A hole that was just within earshot of the table. A spot which Kelly knew would just accommodate her armoured frame and hide her from the two men.

Quietly, she slowly made her way to the wall. She took a moment and leaned against the wall, feigning casualness, and carefully checked the crowd to see if anyone was watching her. When it was safe she quickly slid into the small void, and towards the two mercenaries.

"-don't get mad at me Captain! I was just saying-" Kelly heard the younger man exclaim, only to be cut off by Cruz.

"You idiot, don't you think that Aria has her own club monitored? Her very existence is an insult to man and God, but she's not an idiot," Cruz whispered back to the other Blue Sun, only just loudly enough for Kelly to hear, crammed into her not quite cozy hiding spot.

"Well if she's so smart, she'll probably figure out you were lying to her," the young man whispered back pointedly. Kelly listened carefully, trying to adjust to her hiding space without scraping her armour against the walls.

"I didn't lie. Nothing I said to that creature was a lie. The witch will get everything I promised her," Cruz smiled mockingly at his friend, taking a deep drink from his mug.

The young man snorted into his own drink. "Yeah, she'll get everything you promised her Captain, and she'll piss off Thax at the same time! Hah!" he laughed drunkenly, until Cruz cuffed him on the back of his head.

"Would you shut the hell up!" Cruz whispered fiercely, ignoring the younger man's pained look as he rubbed the back of his head, "Do you want the entire club to know the Blue Suns set Aria up? Tarak is a goddamn crazy, alien, son of bitch, and if he finds out you messed up his plan to turn Aria and Thax against each other, he'll cut out both our livers and feed them to us."

Voice lowered, the second Blue Sun responded, "I don't get it though. Why does Tarak want Aria fighting Thax? What's in it for the Blue Suns?" He leaned closer to Cruz, finally lowering his voice, forcing Kelly to riskily inch closer to the pair.

"Why do I even put up with you? Look you idiot, if they're fighting each other, they're not fighting us," Cruz explained softly, exasperated his with his companion.

"Ahuh," the younger man grunted, clearly needing more of a thorough explanation.

"So by killing each other, they both become weaker," Cruz added leadingly, as if he was talking to a small child.

"Ahuh."

Finally out of patience Cruz grabbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers, as if trying to hold back a headache. "And when Tarak is ready to strike, you numbskull, they'll both go down easier than an asari hooker, because they'll have wasted all their resources fighting each other."

"Boros and Aria were right," Kelly whispered lowly to herself. Not that it would do her any good to run and tell Aria what she knew. Boros was long gone by now, there would be no way to warn him or call him back at this point. It wouldn't have surprised her if Boros had already made it to the shipment location, he moved fast.

Kelly carefully extracted herself from the small hiding spot, managing to avoid detection despite becoming momentarily stuck on a loose grate, as the conversation between the two turned away from Tarak's schemes and towards less savoury topics, for instance how exactly elcor and asari screw. There never was a dearth of intellectually stimulating conversation in Afterlife. Thankfully Kelly managed to free herself with a jerk and a stumble, and she didn't have to listen for long.

There didn't seem to be much of a point, but once she had moved away from Cruz, Kelly quickly lit up her omni-tool and sent off a quick message to Aria about what she'd just overheard. If nothing else it might at least make both Aria and Boros think twice about dismissing her.

"Well aren't you a surprisingly subtle creature."

Kelly's head jerked up, surprised at being addressed. "What- Gavorn?"

"That was pretty smooth of you, spying on Cruz like that. You've got guts, if not a whole lot of grace. I think Cruz and his friend might have been the only ones not to see you trip your way out of that hiding spot," Gavorn remarked casually. As Kelly had sent off her message to Aria, the turian had walked up to her, and she hadn't seen him past the glow of her omni-tool. Kelly had only met Gavorn on a few occasions, and this was the first she'd ever seen him dressed in something other than armour.

"What are you doing here Gavorn? Don't tell me Aria already run out of Vorcha for you to shoot at," Kelly said, calming her speeding heart. She wasn't used to being snuck up on so often.

"What I can't visit my old squad? Remember you replaced me after Aria figured out my talent," Gavorn said. He signalled for Kelly to keep walking, and followed closely. There was no sense in letting Cruz spot them at this point. The sound of their footsteps was swallowed by the ambient noise of the club, along with their conversation.

"Does a gift for squashing Vorcha really count as a talent Gavorn?" Kelly teased, heading towards a small empty table, "And what does visiting your old squad have to do with sneaking up on me? Why don't you go bother Tawsh? She'd be thrilled I bet."

"I was headed her way, but then I saw the strangest thing. Can you guess what it was?" Not waiting for a response Gavorn went on, "I saw a human female squeezing into a crack in the wall and eavesdropping on a Blue Sun Captain that was rumoured to have been visiting Aria recently. Imagine my curiosity-"

"Do I have to?" Kelly interrupted, sitting down.

"Tell me what you learned from your little foray into the world of espionage," Gavorn said, ignoring Kelly's sarcastic question and taking a seat across from Kelly. "Vorcha extermination keeps me busy, but it isn't exactly the most intriguing line of work."

Kelly shook her head, "I don't think so Gavorn. I sent a report to Aria, if she wants you to know, she'll tell you, but I'm not talking behind the Boss's back."

"Fine don't tell me," Gavorn said despairingly, "Just let my curiosity tear me apart from the inside. Between that, and the mental degradation of the repetitious grunt work of Vorcha population control, my brains are probably going to begin dribbling out of my ears any day now."

Kelly couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm sure it's not all that bad. You can always take up a hobby."

"Like what? Bowling for Vorcha with grenades?"

Kelly chuckled, "No, not exactly. I think you might have a bit of a one track mind."

Gavorn gave a dramatic shrug, "I can't help myself. I can feel my brains liquefying day by day. I'm in desperate need of mental stimulation," Gavorn looked sideways at Kelly, "I don't suppose you'd be willing to provide some stimulation?" Gavorn teased.

Completely missing the double entendre of Gavorn's request, Kelly answered, "Sure, I think I have some time to talk. We're not too busy tonight, a good thing too, with Boros taking both Roustous and Aelianus out with him."

"Now you see, unless you've changed your mind about sharing what you overheard Cruz talking about, I'm not really interesting in talking about work right now," Gavorn said.

Kelly shrugged, keeping an eye on the customers, she asked, "Well what do you want to talk about then? The weather? The latest issue of _Fornax_? Whether or not Alessa is ever going to be able to say no to Vikaila? Why there never seem to be any Volus around Omega?"

"You read _Fornax_?" Gavorn asked, intrigued.

"Well they don't exactly teach much about non-human fornication back on Earth. I was curious and picked up an issue. It was educational," Kelly explained, kicking herself for her sarcastic suggestion.

"Educational? Right. So which issue did you get exactly?" Gavorn asked.

Pausing to wave at a few of the dancers Kelly answered, "Wouldn't you like to know. I was being sarcastic you know."

Disappointed Gavorn said, "So you don't read Fornax?"

"No. I read Fornax, I just don't actually want to talk about it."

"You're killing me here," Gavorn sighed labouredly, "Fine, fine. What do you want to talk about then?"

"You're the one who said he needed mental stimulation."

"You won't tell me about what you overheard, you won't talk to me about Fornax, what's there left to talk about?"

"I know it's difficult but I'm almost certain you can come up with at least one more topic for conversation," Kelly answered unimpressed, but amused. She frowned when she saw a few Eclipse Mercenaries head up a level, but she didn't do anything. Tawsh or one of the others would keep an eye on them.

"Fine. Where are you from?"

"What?" Kelly asked startled, "Why?"

"You're not going to tell me I can't ask questions about you?" Gavorn asked, unaware he'd put Kelly on the defensive. "I feel like I should get to know my replacement better. And you're one of the few humans I can have a civil conversation with. All the other ones tend to sign up with the Blue Suns or are terrified of turians."

"So you're trying to broaden your cultural horizons Gavorn?" Kelly asked nervously.

"Sure, let's call it that," Gavorn said with a hint of mischief.

"I'm not-" Kelly started, trying to deflect Gavorn's inquiry, but was interrupted by a sharp scream from across the room.

Kelly was instantly on her feet and at a dead run towards the sound. Gavorn was at her heels, his own instincts from years of working A Sec taking over.

_**Author's Note:**__ Well I'm finally done chapter five. Took me long enough no? Don't be mad, I'm in my last year of my undergraduate right now, and I recently finished my law school application. Also this chapter just did not want to be written, but then Cruz and Gavorn popped into my head and said, hey why not let us pick up some slack? And thus the chapter was written._

_ Thank you all for the alerts and favourites, I deeply appreciate each and everyone. Thanks for the tip theifkingbakura1, I can always do with more plot ideas, and better yet Kelly has no idea. Sorry I kept you waiting so long Pyro Raptor77, I hope this chapter is also to your liking. Thanks for the interest Mad Mome, and I am trying to balance this character and make her strong and interesting without crossing into Mary Sue territory, but as for painful clichés, well I have enjoyed using them to hilarious comedic affect in the past… I hope you enjoy the chapter Lady Kopaka, I always love getting your feedback. Hopelessly Blue, you're going to make me blush with talk like that, and all rumours of potential asari infatuations are entirely unconfirmed at this point. Thank you Zero612, I hope this update pleases you. I haven't forgotten bale626, this story haunts my mind and spirit, I hope that I'll be able to update more regularly now._

_ Thank you all for your patience and reviews. Reviews really help me write and I love getting them, even it's only a few words. I'm going to try and periodically leave progress updates on my profile page, so if you want to know how the next chapter is coming, feel free to check in from time to time. Also I have a brief poll on my profile right now, and would happy to get some feedback._

_ Please Review!_


	6. A Kind of Life

Written 03/22/12

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, if I did I wouldn't have cried may way through a good portion of ME3.

_Life - the way it really is - is a battle not between bad and good but between bad and worse. Joseph Brodsky_

A Kind of Life

The crowd had quickly thickened, bodies pressing against one other, scrambling for a good look at the show. They hid the spectacle from outsiders, and concealed the fate of whoever had voiced the scream that had split the air a moment ago. Kelly rushed forward, breaking her way through the crowd, unconcerned with who she was pushing aside in her rush to see what was happening. Yet her progress through the crowd was still slowed by its density. When another yell broke the air, one that had the distinctive ring of a turian voice, she started going for ribs and toes to break through the crowd faster.

Gavorn was following close enough behind Kelly, that when his superior height gave him the first look at the situation, she was able to hear his muttered turian curse that her translator failed to even attempt to translate. Just ahead of Gavorn, Kelly finally broke through the crowd barrier, a moment after she'd begun to hear the repeated dry thud of flesh striking scales.

Kelly bit back her own curse as she surveyed the scene. Ermanus was on the ground, vainly trying to protect his face from the blows Tawsh was raining down over his torso as she pinned him to ground, straddling his waist. It was easy to tell that the turian scream had come from Ermanus, and the first scream's origin was equally evident. Vikaila was holding Blaire up as the paler asari cradled a face that was torn by three long bloody gashes. They were huddled on the edge of the stage, watching Tawsh pummel the turian. It didn't take a nuclear physicist to do the math.

"Tawsh stop! He's down, get off of him," Kelly ordered, lunging forward to Tawsh, she grabbed onto the lip of the back of the smooth inky armour around Tawsh's neck. She jerked Tawsh back and off of the fallen turian, ignoring the furious snarl that batarian gave when her angry justice was interrupted. She glared back at Tawsh "Just stop hitting him, let me see Blaire and then I'll deal with him."

Tawsh took a breath, visibly trying to calm herself and forced herself to nod, barely jerking her head at all, as Kelly turned away from the two. Ermanus's moans followed her across the small distance to the stage where the other dancers had fallen away, shrinking back from the violence, leaving Blaire alone with Vikaila, who's eyes glittered dangerously. Vikaila was clearly sympathetic to Tawsh's state of rage.

"Blaire, are you okay?" Kelly asked gently, reaching out with her hand to faintly brush her fingers across the hand Blaire hid her wounds behind. Despite Kelly's effort of delicacy, Blaire still flinched away, turning deeper into Vikaila's protective embrace. Her flinch was enough to show the rough wound across her face, despite the shadows of the club, and the violet bruises that had begun to tint her face. Her hands and face glittered with the reflected light from the club, wet with her own blood.

Vikaila held tighter to her friend and answered for Blaire, "Ermanus didn't take your warning to heart. He started bothering Blaire again, and when she tried to get away he hit her. Tawsh got here before he could do anything else." Vikaila's voice was half strangled with anger as she reported to Kelly.

Kelly's gut tightened with guilt and her mind raced. This was her fault. She had to fix it now.

"Get Blaire off the stage. You know where the medi-gel is. Arryl, Laurine," she waved over two of the dancers who had shrunk away the least, "Help Blaire." The two asari hesitated for a moment, all the dancers had shrunk away from the violence, afraid to intervene. Arryl broke from her hesitance first, sharing a significant glance with Kelly, and pulled Laurine along to help.

"Shit," a wheezy voice cursed from behind Kelly, "I think you broke some ribs."

"Shut it Ermanus, or it's your neck next," Tawsh bit back at Ermanus's complaint.

"Is this how all batarian's treat paying customers? Or just rejects even the Hegemony doesn't want?" Ermanus struggled to sit up as Kelly turned on him. People began backing up from Tawsh when it looked like she was getting up again. Kelly favoured her with a frighteningly angry glare the batarian had never seen before and Gavorn who'd been pushing back the crowd shook his head at her. So Tawsh merely retook her footing, and allowed Kelly to stride to Ermanus's side. Kelly was bristling with anger.

"You," Kelly said, grabbing Ermanus by one of his mandibles, pulling him forward and onto his knees, despite a pained protest. "This is never going to happen, ever again."

Ermanus tried to respond, but with his mandible firmly gripped in Kelly's hand it was difficult to understand him. "Yeth! Yeth! Neth'a'en!" He grabbed at his ribs and exhaled painfully as Kelly wretched him forward again.

"You are leaving, right now," Kelly whispered darkly, bringing her face close to Ermanus's. Even the music had stopped, and Kelly's whispers carried across the breathless room. "If I ever see your face again, you had better hope I've forgotten it. Or I'll make what you did to her look like beauty mark by comparison." She shook him by his mandible, drawing out a cry of pain. "Do you understand?" Ermanus failed to answer, trying desperately to catch his breath.

"She asked if you understood Ermanus!" Tawsh said, striding forward to kick the injured turian in his back. Gavorn followed behind pulling Tawsh back before she could kick him again. The injured turian fell forward, released from the grip on his delicate mandible. He gasped as his ribs landed hard on the metal floor.

"Oooh, that look like it hurt," Gavorn commented.

"Yes!" Ermanus gasped through his pain, "Yes I understand."

"Then get the hell out of here, you're an embarrassment to the species," Gavorn said, pulling Ermanus to his feet and giving a push towards the exit.

Kelly watched as Gavorn herded Ermanus out, still at the center of the clearing in the crowd. Her heart was thudding uncomfortably loud in her throat, and her knuckles were cracking with how tightly her fists were clenched. She couldn't remember being so angry before, and her inexperience rooted her in place.

Tawsh noted her Squad Leader's immobility, and took action, "Alright, you know the drill, show's over folks!" she called out, shooing the crowd, "You'd think none of you had seen a public beating before. Get back to your drinks!" She grabbed Kelly by the elbow and pulled her away from the crowd and towards the back halls. Kelly followed, but her eyes remained fixed on where Gavorn had pushed Ermanus, despite the dispersing crowd hiding them from her.

Tawsh quickly pulled her into the halls and then forewent the likely occupied dancer's locker room for the guardroom. Tawsh suspected they'd all be out on the floor, but the one guard who was there was quick enough to leave when Tawsh glared at him and thumbed towards the door.

Kelly, blood still pounding, glared at Tawsh and asked, "What?" The confrontation had left her feeling direct.

"I take it back. You don't need to get in touch with your inner anger and let it out. I'm starting to think the day you do get in touch with it, Afterlife will need a new roof, floors and walls. What the fuck was that?" Tawsh asked, crossing her arms and returning Kelly's glare.

"What, did I do something wrong? Are you upset I pulled you off of him? I handled it didn't I?" Kelly asked, incredulous.

Tawsh's eyes flashed brightly as they caught the dim lighting of the room as she shifted while she reprimanded Kelly, "Handled it? How? By losing your temper and just kicking him out? After he hit Blaire? The only way to handle that is a bullet in the brain."

"The Hell it is!" Kelly cursed, shocked out of her anger. "Why the hell would I do that? You broke his ribs and I humiliated him. We didn't need to kill him, he won't be coming back."

"This is Omega! Everyone in the club saw that you wouldn't kill him for hurting one of our dancers, even when you were that pissed off. Now people are going to think they can get away with it. You just made our jobs that much harder," Tawsh yelled back.

"Then why the fuck didn't you say anything out there!" Kelly yelled back. Tawsh may have shocked her out of her anger over Ermanus's crime, but there was enough fuel there that a new anger was quickly building, this time aimed at Tawsh.

"Sure dissent among the ranks- that would have been worse you idiot! I can't believe you're being this stupid. I know you're squeamish, but fool that I was- I believed you'd prove yourself at the right moment. Well there it was and there it goes! Nice one," Tawsh bit off sarcastically, her own ire rising quickly.

"Forgive me for interrupting your enlightened approach," Kelly countered, equally bitterly sarcastic, "I should have realized that murder was the obvious solution here!"

"You're a complete and utter moron, you emotionally repressed coward!"

"And you're a psychotic bitch!"

"That's it!" Tawsh yelled and lunged towards Kelly, fist aimed at the smaller woman's nose.

Training with a STG veteran was enough to grant Kelly the grace to dodge the rushed attack, but then she promptly forgot all of her training and instead grabbed Tawsh around the middle and ran them into the lockers, slamming Tawsh into them. Kelly had forgotten the protection that Tawsh's armour afforded her and Tawsh was more than happy to take advantage of the mistake. Using the momentum Tawsh bounced off the lockers and flung herself at Kelly, pushing her to the floor where they both began to generously trade blows.

"I should _really _be selling tickets to this," Gavorn commented, casually leaning against the door frame, a position he had occupied for more than a few moments of observation.

The women, interrupted, both looked up to glare at him. Tawsh was bleeding around one of her upper eyes, and Kelly's bruise, on her jaw from earlier, had cut open on Tawsh's knuckles. Besides their bleeding wounds they had both collected an astonishing number of colourful bruises as well. Kelly, pinned under the larger woman, was the first to recover her senses.

"Ow," she said, letting go of Tawsh to stem her bleeding jaw, "This was not the smartest thing ever."

Tawsh took a moment longer to snap out of her violent haze, but when she did it was a snort and a curse. "No really?" she said, climbing off of Kelly's prone form. Steadying herself, she reached down to the human and pulled her up off the hard metal floor.

"Oh don't stop on my account ladies, it was just getting interesting," Gavorn said half-heartedly. It was common enough for turians to work out stress like this, especially after something so dramatic. Gavorn hadn't exactly been expecting it from his non-turian co-workers, but he didn't see why the same rules wouldn't apply. Let them fight it out for a bit, and interrupt them if they get too nasty. He had only watched them for a few minutes, and he might have let them go longer… Until it started to look they were going for the eyes. Gavorn resisted the urge to comment on their dirty fighting techniques.

"Heh, you look awful kid. Where did you get that bruise from anyway?" Tawsh asked grabbing medi-gel out of a locker at random.

"Another batarian with a grudge against my jawline apparently. I didn't get your eye too badly did I?" Kelly asked, taking another tube of medi-gel offered up by Gavorn.

"Just cut up the soft parts of my face a bit, medi-gel will take care of it," Tawsh exhaled noisily with relief as she applied the tingling gel to her face. She winced, "You got in a few good ones on my ribs though."

"Really? I've been working on my torso strikes," Kelly winced as she rubbed her hip, "Man that hurt when you rode me into the ground. Note to self, never land on the side of your butt."

Gavorn was used to turians working out stress, but this type of aftermath wasn't what he was expecting. "Are all of your species this crazy? Or is it just the females? You two were just beating the crap out of each other a second ago," Gavorn asked, a little mystified.

Tawsh and Kelly looked up from their various injuries to share a friendly smile. Granted this was more in line with how Tawsh was used to bonding then Kelly, but both had come out of the brawl feeling a lot calmer. "I wouldn't presume to speak for all females, but we're both definitely crazy," Kelly joked.

Tawsh laughed indignantly, "Speak for yourself. I just decided I didn't like staring at that ugly face of yours anymore."

"Hey! What's wrong with my face?"

"It's just so… _Smooth."_

+ Blood and Bone +

After some liberal applications of medi-gel, Tawsh walked back out onto the club floor, accompanied by Gavorn. With the fireworks over, they could catch up, while Kelly checked on Blaire. She shook her head ruefully at the pair as they walked out together, their laughter rung out over the tromping of Tawsh's boots as Gavorn teased her about letting herself get beaten by an upstart. Tawsh took it with good humour.

Kelly passed a few curious guards who had waited for the guardroom to be vacated before heading in. She just shook her head at them with smile, no doubt everyone would get the full story eventually, but now she just wanted to get to the neighbouring room where the dancers changed and Blaire was sure to be.

When the door gently swept aside to admit her, Kelly was immediately able to hear Blaire and Vikaila arguing, though the lockers hid them from her immediate view.

"Please Viks, I'm okay," Blaire said quietly. Her protest what followed by an immediate gasp, as Vikaila forced further cool medi-gel on her.

"Sure you are, you just had a big turian put his claws through your face, but you're fine," Vikaila drawled back at Blaire gently teasing her.

"We shouldn't waste medi-gel," Blaire argued, her breath hitching in her throat when Vikaila soothed another scratch. "What if we need it later?"

"Then we'll get more later. You need it now," Vikaila told the other girl firmly as Kelly rounded the lockers. Blaire's head swung towards the human, the ringing of her boots on the metal floor making it impossible for her to approach unnoticed in the quiet room, but Vikaila remained fixed on her task.

"Don't fidget," Vikaila ordered, yet she was still very gentle in pulling Blaire's face back towards her own. She continued to carefully tend to Blaire but asked, "So what happened? We heard the noise from next door, there are other rooms you could have pulled Ermanus into if you wanted to beat him."

Kelly sat down on a bench across from the two women and took the opportunity to take a better look at Blaire's injuries. Blaire was by far the palest asari she'd ever seen on Omega, and by extension her entire life. She had been surprised to find an asari dancer so shy, but Blaire had explained, once they were better acquainted, that it was easy to fade into the scenery so long as she stayed on the stage. Unfortunately her timidness had made an easy target for the brutish Ermanus.

"Ermanus was dealt with where Tawsh pounded him. We threw him out, and I told him to never come back. He won't bother you again Blaire," Kelly promised seriously, looking intently at Blaire. Vikaila had done a good job, Blaire was entirely clean of blood and her wounds had already lost the rough fresh look that they'd had earlier. Vikaila knew how to use medi-gel properly.

"I'm sorry," Blaire apologized fretfully, "I didn't mean to cause a scene." She wrung her hands uncomfortably, and lowered her eyes.

Kelly blew air out her nose and frowned seriously at Blaire. "It is not your fault that Ermanus hit you Blaire. Don't you dare apologize. I should have thrown him out earlier."

Unconvinced Blaire argued, "I should have stayed away from him to begin with. I was stupid to get so close."

"You're both idiots. The turian is responsible for what he did, no one else. That's the last I want to hear about it," Vikaila commanded with finality, finishing her last application of gel to Blaire's face.

Kelly smiled humorously at the command, and shared her amusement with Blaire. The human's goofy grin was enough to get the poor asari's lips to twitch upwards.

"You should go home Blaire, I'm sure no one will hold it against you if you take the rest of your shift off," Kelly suggested as Vikaila got up to put away the first aid kit.

Blaire instantly shook her head in refusal. "I can't afford it. I need the credits, don't worry I'll just grab a spot far away from the crowd. It's less tips, but I'll be fine."

Vikaila smiled wryly at Kelly, "Her bruises aren't any more colourful than yours. Blaire's tough, she'll handle it." Blaire treated Vikaila with a watery smile for the compliment.

Kelly frowned thoughtfully. For all that Blaire's wounds had been well treated, a rude rash of bruises did decorate her delicate jaw and collarbone. Before she could protest though, Kelly caught a look at herself in one of the many mirrors housed in the room. Her own bruises were much the same as Blaire, though they only showed from the neck up. The glance brought the muted ache back to the forefront of her mind, reminding her that the bruises on her body matched the ones Blaire had been given quite well. Though there was something to be said about the difference in the colouring of the bruises.

"Fair point," Kelly ceded to the two asari. Wordlessly she gave Blaire a gentle hug, that the asari hesitantly returned. Kelly excused herself to both of the two women, and returned to the blissfully uneventful remainder of her shift.

+ Blood and Bone +

Kelly walked out of the back of Afterlife, feeling lighter than she had all day. It could have just been unsheathing herself from her armour, but it was nice to escape the dark and loud atmosphere of the club. She took a moment to look up at the sprawling expanse of Omega, so often overlooked for the crowded streets below. Dark spires rose out of the asteroid, buildings and stone towering over the flickering lights of life that littered the station. Kelly had tried asking Mordin how exactly air stayed on the station, despite the seemingly open sky, which offered more than a glimpse of the vast glittering galaxy. She had been able to follow his answer… Vaguely.

Omega did have mass effect engines which created a moderate amount of gravity, and tethered air to Omega. It was also held in place by some type of shielding, something to do with electronic resonance and molecules. There were machines that kept Omega's citizens breathing, their water flowing and electricity running. It was in everyone's best interest to keep those machines well-greased and maintained. Surprisingly it was the gangs who would maintain the machines, within their own territories of course. Kelly and Mordin both lived on the edges of Aria's territory, or at least, her least disputed territory. The Queen of Omega had her fingers in many pots, among which was control of most of Omega's docks. Aria's influence ran deep, but Omega was tumultuous.

Now there's only so many times a girl can get away with becoming lost in thought while walking down the streets of Omega. Kelly with her head in the sky, had used up her allotment. Looking up at the sky she ran into a large rounded surface, which only gave a centimetre before pushing back. Kelly's already bruised bum protested loudly as she plopped backwards onto the ground.

Stunned Kelly could only blink up at the large blue individual as he turned around. The large, familiar, blue armoured individual. The large, familiar, blue armoured individual, who was _suspiciously_ krogan shaped.

"Oh no…" Kelly said softly with incredulous despair.

The massive krogan turned on Kelly, with all the restrained speed of a mountain. Kelly began to swear silently at the first glimpse of a blue crest. She began to sweat when a face with a very noticeable scar, a scar that was still rough enough to be fairly new for a krogan, turned to look down at her.

"You." The krogan's voice took Kelly back a month ago to her arrival on Omega. The blue krogan loomed over her, larger than before, from her prone position, sprawled on the ground. She shook herself, this was not the time to reminisce, Mordin wasn't likely to come to her rescue a second time.

"Hey Buddy," Kelly greeted, nervous laughter in her voice, "How's it going?"

"You!" the krogan lunged at Kelly almost immediately, but she had already rolled out of his path and onto her feet.

"You know we really got off on the wrong foot last time," she said, eyes desperately searching for an escape route. There was no way she could outrun a krogan.

The krogan turned on Kelly again, glaring angrily. "If you're ready to make amends hold still, and I'll make us even." He hesitated, not lunging after Kelly again, he watched her closely for her next move.

"Listen what happened- it was a misunderstanding. Let's start over- I'm Kelly," she said pleasantly, slowly circling the big krogan, trying to get her back to the wall of a particularly dilapidated building.

"And I'm Jaz. Now that the introductions are over with, come here!" The blue krogan lunged at her, but Kelly had already jumped away, diving through a small hole in the wall. She brought her legs up to her chest, so she could clear the jagged edges of the hole, rolling onto her shoulder once through. On her feet in a moment, she didn't hesitate and kept running forward, winding through the ruins of the building. A few degenerates who had taken refuge inside, screamed at her for the intrusion, but the cries quickly turned to fright as Jaz tore through the walls like they were paper, in his vengeful pursuit.

Kelly quickly rounded a corner and bounded up a short flight of stairs, praying she wasn't headed for a dead end. She grabbed onto the edge of a wall corner, hurtling herself around the turn, well aware of crashes coming from the angry krogan, intent on chasing her down.

A long corridor unfurled in front of Kelly as she ran, frantically aware of each laboured breath. She needed to get out of the open and hide. Or at least out of Jaz's reach.

"Come back here pyjack!" he screamed down the hall as he rounded the corner, already closing the small distance between them.

Despite her already burning lungs, Kelly called back sarcastically, "When you say such sweet things-" she gasped as she scrambled up a ladder, pointing her back towards Jaz, but far above him, "How can I refuse?"

Jaz leaped at the catwalk, claws scraping against the underside as she passed, but his efforts were useless. He ran to the ladder Kelly had used, as she lifted herself out of the building and onto the roof through a convenient hatch. It led to the open air above the roofs of the older homes and rundown businesses.

Kelly stuck her head back inside the hatch when she heard a crash- half of the walkway had given way under the krogan's weight, pulling the catwalk and part of the building down on top of him. His massive blue form peaked out from under the debris. He shifted, trying to claw out of the mess, only enough to show Kelly he was alive, not enough to move more than a little of stone and metal. He managed to lift the biggest piece of the catwalk off himself, but he seemed content to lie were he was under the smaller debris. He was dazed from the avalanche of stone, plaster and metal. She knew she shouldn't wait around for him to recover

Stopping just long enough to take a few long breaths of relief, Kelly looked around. Afterlife was still in sight, but not close enough to hear the steady beat of its music that escaped into the air around it. Picking out the direction she would need to go to head home, past the clinic, Kelly found it surprisingly easy to traverse the rooftops. Most had discarded metal sheets connecting them, a convenient way for people to get around without mingling in the crowded streets below.

Kelly stole another glance of the sparkling Omega sky as she traversed the roofs slowly, careful to avoid looking down. No need to invite vertigo. The stars and other celestial bodies seemed to shine a bit brighter from here on the roofs, but it was hard to enjoy as she darted across falls that could easily kill her.

About to cross a larger gap, Kelly started, almost falling forward, as a scream split the air for second time that night.

_Author's note: I did it! Yahoo! And also- so sorry it took this long! I have had a ton of work to do this semester, it being my last one of my undergrad and all. There may have also been a little bit of writer's block, but I think I have the next chapter pretty well figured out, so it should not take several months to post! Hopefully…_

_Was that a goodly amount of ass kicking Zero612? If you're not quite satisfied yet, don't worry, I have planssss… theifkingbakura1 I hope you don't die of shock over this update finally being released- I'd miss your reviews. Thank you Soren and FEholic for you interest, I hope you both liked this update and the direction I'm heading. Sorry if I missed responding to any reviews, it's taken so long I may have lost track of some. Just know, reviews are the fuel on which this story feeds, I couldn't do it without you all._

_Thank you all for the alerts and faves, please drop me a review, I'd love to hear what you think! Or you know, that I'm not sucking too hard, I'll never improve without knowing what parts you all like and what parts you don't. Please teach me._


	7. A Kind of Death

Written 07/22/12

Disclaimer: If I owned Mass Effect I'd probably give it to Bioware anyway, for I am but a lowly fangirl who feeds on their work.

_Death is a punishment to some, to some a gift, and to many a favour._

_Seneca_

A Kind of Death

The human body is much more durable than is commonly suspected. For every mother who suffers a heart attack when her small child defies gravity in the way only children can, there is a person who falls five stories onto a paved road and lives another thirty years. For every child who cries after her little brother kicks a soccer ball into her face, there's someone who was shot with ten bullets and kept running. The human body is meant for survival, for all that it lacks certain offensive qualities. It is so much less weak then we think.

Turian anatomy is certainly the other side of the coin. Long limbs are plated with hard scales that any creature should envy. They have the same predatory eyes as humans, aggressively facing forward, searching for prey, but unlike the softer species, turians have the pointed teeth of a true hunter to compliment them. Their sharply tipped three fingered hands and their powerful legs tell the tale of an apex predator. There is no shock that turians would become the dominant species of Palaven, but they do have their own weaknesses. Protected by their resilient hides, deep within their potent muscles are light bones, hollow and avian. Turians gain swiftness from their lighter frames, but lack the mammalian durability of humanity.

Asari have much in common with humans, though their powerful biotics have allowed the species to thrive, they lack the survivability of humans. Their long term regenerative abilities are of course without match among earthlings. Conditions which would cripple a human for life would be a temporary bump over the course of an asari life. Of course there is no comparison to krogan physiology, but there were no krogan present.

Kelly teetered on the edge of oblivion as she stood roughly an inch from the edge of the building. A scream had torn through the darkness a moment ago- an eternity ago? Somewhere in between. It was the same scream. The same voice, the same pain and the same fear, but it was more. More pain and more fear.

There was no one standing in the way this time. No unruly club patrons obstructing the view. But Kelly couldn't see the tragedy any faster. Her mind refused. A month on Omega wasn't enough to ready a mind for this, a mind that had spent its entire life in peace, with all true horror held distant by the barrier of a television screen.

Slowly enough the pieces began to fit together in her mind. The vision gained weight and colour. It made a horrible sense.

Kelly looked down into a dark alley, littered with trash, dirt, rubble and two people. Ermanus stood tall, spattered in violet blood not his own, a naked blade shining with the same asari blood. His teeth were bared in a violent mockery of a smile, as he held Blaire up with one hand. Dripping with blood and bruises, her strength had fled with the scream, lost in Omega's glittering dark sky. She was only able to weakly look up at Ermanus with her scared pale blue eyes, as he raised his knife once more, for the final time.

A foul taunt rung out from the turian, but it was lost in the roar of blood in Kelly's ears. What would she do if all her options were taken from her? Could she fight? Would she act? Everyone kept asking Kelly if she was prepared to do what was necessary. They finally had an answer. Kelly shot down at Ermanus, her bullet biting deep into the ground at his feet.

She didn't remember drawing her gun, but it was in her hand as she clambered down the side of the building onto a rickety landing. The metal jilted and clanged with each step she took, but she couldn't hear the ruckus, and it wasn't her steps that made Ermanus turn, or the shot, that made him look at the rapidly approaching human, distracting him from his victim. Kelly had begun to yell as she charged, a loud angry sound. It tore painfully from her throat, violent and endless, but all she could hear was her heartbeat.

In her mad haste to reach the ground, down a ladder, around a pole, Kelly shot blindly at Ermanus, vainly hoping to distract him from hurting Blaire anymore. Poor Blaire, who's eyes had cracked open again when she heard the first shot. Who had summoned just enough strength to turn her head to search for the origin of the loud scream and the further gunshots. Blaire's who's face had lit with the smallest glimmer of hope when she recognized rescue.

Poor Blaire who gasped when Ermanus stuck his knife deep in her stomach.

"No! No no no no no!" Kelly yelled senselessly. Her throat and lungs burned as she scrambled down the side of the building. If she was fast enough she could still save her, there was still time, but it was counted in seconds now. Shoot Ermanus, leave the knife in, and carefully carry Blaire to the clinic. She could do it, she could save her. It wasn't too far. Kelly's feet hit the ground and she spun as quick as she could, whipping her gun around to aim at the blood spattered turian. But then the ground slipped out from under her, and rushed up for an intimate meeting with her face.

The alley's hard road was covered in various debris, including a fine sparkling grit that had slid under Kelly's boots, knocking her ankles together and twisting her to the ground. The same sharp gravel cut open her uncovered hands as they slapped the ground, bursting open small cuts that had been vainly trying to heal. Bruises that had just ceased to quiet voiced shrill complaints as her body tumbled down. She let go of the gun and it skittered away, lost at the base of trash heap that had destabilized when it gave up its valiant battle against gravity.

Her ribs burned as she gasped, trying to recapture the air that had been forced from her lungs by the fall. She was so stunned, for a moment she couldn't even make her eyes focus on Ermanus's retreating figure. She slowly drew herself to her knees, against the better judgement of all her senses, who cried out at her to rest, to stop this madness. Two beatings, fleeing for her life and throwing herself down the side of a building, the last being figuratively of course, was enough. She should stop.

Ermanus was gone, the knife was gone and Blaire was bleeding out in the gutter. Kelly pulled herself to her feet, and staggered over to Blaire, collapsing painfully on her knees at Blaire's side. Her hands hovered over Blaire's prone form, hesitant, afraid of worsening her wound. Her blood had pooled around her body, a small purple ocean, but it was slowing. She shouldn't have lost so much blood so quickly.

Blaire's scratches from before had been reopened, splattering her face with blood. Her clothing had been torn and pulled apart, showing how painfully thin she was, just this side of malnourished. She wasn't bruised, there hadn't been enough time for the colourful signs of violence to show. Yet Ermanus hadn't spared any effort and had been sure to leave as many marks and cuts on Blaire as he could.

Blaire gasped and coughed, making Kelly flinch and snapping her out of her stupor. She quickly covered the stab wound with both her hands, pressing down hard against the warm flow of blood. "Blaire it's going to be okay. I'm going to stop the bleeding and I'll get you to Dr. Solus. He'll fix you-"

"It's too late," Blaire whispered quietly. Her voice was weak, but Kelly's choked voice died the instant Blaire began to speak. "It's too much blood. There's no… no time." Her voice wavered with each breath. She was cold under Kelly's hands.

Kelly wanted to say something. To deny it, to promise Blaire would be fine, to comfort her, but the words withered on her tongue, and tasted like ash. There was too much blood and there was no time. A human might not have bled out quite so fast. A human might have survived. Blaire wouldn't.

"Thank you for trying. I'm so happy-" she shuddered and turned her head to cough up blood. She grabbed at Kelly's hands with her own, using all her strength to weakly pull Kelly's hands into her own. "I'm so happy I didn't die alone." She struggled to smile, her lips twitched upwards, and the corners of her eyes crinkled, but before she could manage it, her eyes closed, her mouth went slack, her breathing slowed, slowed and stopped. She was gone.

Blaire's hands which had held so tightly on her own, but with all the strength of a small bird, fell away. The blood that had so insistently pumped from her heart trickled to a stop, stealing her pale colour from her, leaving her white as bone. White as death. Blaire laid still before Kelly. Her body laid still. Her corpse.

Kelly pulled Blaire's hands back into her own, clenching them tightly, her knuckles popping loudly. It was quiet now. No more running. No more fighting. No more screaming and struggling to breathe. The vague and distant sounds of the crowded streets of Omega wafted through the alley. The rest of Omega might as well have been another world.

Kelly held Blaire's hands, her white skin against Kelly's own pale skin, both slick with violet blood. She'd never even seen a dead body before, let alone the body of someone she'd known. Never looked death in the eye before. It was impossible for Blaire to look peaceful in death, Ermanus had robbed her of that dignity, but with her eyes closed, she might have been trapped in fitful sleep. Kelly didn't know what to do next. All of her careful plans and valiant fantasies- they were empty and hollow now.

"Blaire I-" she choked, the words feeling foreign and blocky in her mouth. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she apologized, realizing as she did, the words meant nothing.

+ Blood and Bone +

_The study was conducted with 200 krogan participants who received financial compensation for their contribution. Each supplied blood, tissue, and other biological __samples... Tertiary systems were tested... Genetic recombination with asari and turian DNA at a cellular level had differing results... rejection was prominent...Genetic... Tertiary..._

Tara blinked, the words on her datapad running together in her mind. With a frustrated sigh she leaned back in her chair and flung her arms to her sides, letting the datapad slip from her fingers and gently clatter to the floor. Her head hung back and her eyes peered out from her suit at the ceiling. If she'd been turian she might have scratched at her scales in frustration, as a human she would have run her fingers through her hair. As it was, her suit kept her divorced from her own flesh, and she could merely lean forward again, away from the back of her seat, and cradle her head on her crossed arms upon her desk.

Her mind just wouldn't stop running through the robbery, and it was keeping her from focusing. She'd read the same paragraph at least three time now. The batarian had been so harmless looking, so friendly. He'd just been another patient who needed help. And Tara was always ready to help people wasn't she? No matter how stupid it was in hindsight, she berated herself. He'd been nervous but charming. She'd thought it would help put the new patient at ease if she would forgo the standard security scan. He'd just seemed so... nice.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she mumbled to herself. She almost gotten the place robbed because she'd become too complacent. She got Kelly hurt to boot. If Dr. Solus hadn't shown up when he did... well it didn't take a genius to deduce what events would have unfolded next. She'd gone home when her salarian mentor had run all the tests he felt were necessary, but sleep had eluded her in the bed of her tiny apartment, and it wasn't because her neighbour seemed to have taken up volus folk dancing.

Tara abruptly stood up from her desk, shoving her chair back with her legs. Nothing was going to come of beating herself up over it. There were patient files to review, tests to run, and studies to catch up on. She had work to do and little time to do it in. And of course on cue, that was when a light on her desk lit up and a short chime played to let her know someone had just entered through the clinic doors. Dr. Solus was running delicate tests with a rare plant species, and the receptionist was out. Tara folded over and snatched up her datapad so she could lay it on her desk. She was out of her office and down the hall, this time already reading the security scan on her omni-tool.

When she turned the corner to patient waiting room, she was stopped dead in her tracks. Kelly was standing just inside the door, almost swaying on her feet. Smeared with asari blood across her face and clothes, she was carrying a thin asari in her arms. A very pale asari, and if Kelly was covered in blood, then the asari was drenched in the indigo fluid. Kelly looked at Tara with empty unfocused eyes, her hands clenched tightly around the smaller woman seemed to be the only bit of strength she had left.

"Keelah," she murmured stunned. She took half a hesitant step forward before breaking into a flat out sprint towards the doors. Kelly began sinking to her knees just as Tara got close enough to catch her and guide her to the floor. Her eyelids fluttered, half closed in exhaustion and pain, but her knuckles were white in their grip upon the body.

And it was a body Tara found quickly enough, an instant scan showing no signs of life in the pale asari. "Kelly, are you injured? Are you alright? What happened?" Tara asked with distress. She didn't see any tell tale red of human blood, but Kelly looked like she'd just walked through the worst part of Omega while tossing around a fully loaded credit chit. Kelly's lips moved slightly as if to answer Tara's questions, but no sound escaped her lips, and her attempts to speak quickly faded. She just looked at Tara with horribly wide and empty eyes.

Tara pulled back from Kelly for a brief moment, just long enough to access the program on her omni-tool which would do the most thorough medical scan of Kelly as it was capable of. Which was to say, not the most detailed or exhaustive, but it should tell her if Kelly was injured. When the program started running, Tara reclaimed Kelly, holding her by her upper arms, reaching over the asari she'd never seen before.

With a gentle squeeze to try and catch Kelly's attention, Tara asked, "Kelly? Can you hear me? I need you to tell me what happened. Please talk to me."

Kelly looked at Tara, but didn't respond. Tara could see she was showing classic signs of shock. The human girl needed treatment. Tara moved her hands to Kelly's and slowly began to trying to loosen her grip. "I need you to let go now, let me help you."

"No," Kelly said finally, her eyes focusing and hands clenching even tighter around the limp form. "No I can't."

"You need to let go now. She's..." Tara hesitated, "She'd dead. You have to let go."

"I tried to save her, but I was too slow," her voice caught in her throat, "I tripped and fell. I tried to run, but I couldn't-" her voice pinched again, and she stopped, her face falling and her eyes clenching shut.

Tara abandoned her fruitless attempts to peel away Kelly's fingers, and instead caught Kelly's head between her hands. Softly, careful of the hardness of her suit, she brought Kelly's face up to meet her own. Kelly resisted.

"Are you hurt?" Tara asked, Kelly didn't answer and Tara asked again more urgently, " Please tell me if you're hurt, I want to help you."

"My arms- My arms hurt, but I couldn't stop. There might have been a chance..."

Tara let the idea hang in the air. Kelly had carried the girl to the clinic from ancestors knew where, on the slim hope that she wasn't beyond saving, that there was still a chance.

"Kelly I... I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do."

Kelly's eyes, which had been empty with exhaustion, filled with despair, as her last vain hope broke within her. She had known there wasn't anything that could be done but the infinitesimal chance there might be, the smallest of possibilities, kept her going. Her arms burned even now, but she couldn't let go. She'd made herself endure the pain, the stares as she'd walked with her burden through the streets of Omega, telling herself over and over again, to just not let go. If she just held on to Blaire she could get to the clinic, and maybe...

"What about Mordin, can't he-"

"Dr. Solus can't resurrect the dead. " Tara interrupted. More gently she added, "I need you to let go now, okay?"

Still Kelly couldn't loosen her grip, though her hands were long past numb. "It's my fault. It's my fault she's dead. I wasn't quick enough to save her," Kelly's despair began to break through her eyes, and heavy tears began to escape, leaving long wet trails down her cheeks, washing away the blood on her face.

"No, no, it's not. You did everything you could didn't you?" Tara said, her hold on Kelly's face becoming firmer, as if to help hold the younger woman together.

"I let Ermanus go and he killed Blaire. If I had-"

"He killed Blaire, not you. It's not your fault. Please let go, it's okay. You did everything you could."

"No, I-" but her words failed as her tears began to build and she was choked with a sob. Kelly leaned over Blaire's body, as Tara drew the human girl against her shoulder, her arms wrapping around Kelly's shoulders as she cried. Her tears fought there way out violently from Kelly's body. They burned her eyes as they blinded her, and her breath came in broken choked gasps. Her face pressed against the soft cloth which Tara wore over her suit, smearing the blood which had dried on her face, only to be mixed with her tears. It stained the blue fabric with the darker blood. Tara held her, feeling Kelly shake in her sorrow, her head pressing hard into Tara's neck. Blaire hadn't yet escaped from Kelly's grasp, but she had made it halfway into Tara's lap from Kelly's knees, and Kelly's grip had finally began to weaken.

She could have done more. She should have done more. Blaire shouldn't be dead.

Regret and the sharp pain of failure tore through her. She wished she'd known Blaire better. She should have spent more time with the frail dancer. She should have kept a better eye on her. Should have kept Ermanus away from her to begin with. She should have walked her home. She should have shot Ermanus when she had the chance. How could she have let all this happen? The thoughts tormented Kelly, tearing at her mind. The exhaustion which had overcome her, bringing Blaire to the clinic, had shielded her from these painful thoughts, but Tara had broken through the thin shell and painful hindsight had come for it's piece of her soul.

Tara murmured quiet comforting sounds to Kelly, holding her tightly in her arms. The two rarely spent time together outside of Dr. Solus's company. She wouldn't have even called them friends before the robbery, and after they hadn't had an opportunity to talk yet. Being comforting to a distraught patient was a physician's skill that the quarian found more elusive then most abilities, but she held Kelly tightly, trying to give her some small offering of comfort. She gently let go with one hand, to reach down to Kelly's own hands, and found her much more pliant to slowly releasing Blaire with Tara gentle peeling away each finger. Kelly's hands popped and cracked loudly and painfully, as her knuckles finally relaxed from the vice grip on the white asari.

Kelly's tears began to slow as Blaire slid from her grip, to rest between the two women where their knees met. But her trouble breathing increased as her choked sobs became more violent. With her arms empty now, and desperate for something to hold onto, she rose on her knees, and crashed into Tara, wrapping her stronger frame around the quarian, weeping desperately over the pale corpse trapped between them. Until her breathing suddenly slowed, her arms fell away, and Tara found she had a second limp body in her arms.

Her quick wave of panic at Kelly's sudden loss of consciousness was assuaged when Mordin spoke from his position, bent over Kelly's back with a syringe in one hand.

"20mg etomidate-mesilkia compound. Effective on hysterical human and asari patients. Salarians require smaller dosages. Typically 5 to 10mg, depending on weight and severity of emotional trauma. Should remain unconscious for approximately 20 minutes. Suspect longer, exhausted, needs sleep," Mordin pulled Kelly back gently from Tara's arm, helping his colleague escape the tangle of bodies. "Should have called for me on arrival. Patient should have been sedated immediately."

Climbing shakily to her feet, gathering herself after the intensity, Tara said, "You were running those experiments with the Bourd flowers. I didn't realize it who had come in."

Mordin nodded understandingly, carefully dragging Kelly onto a stretcher he had pulled onto the floor. "Still, next time, just yell. Not far away, would have heard. Did hear crying."

"Right," Tara agreed, moving to help the Professor.

Working together they managed to get both of the bodies on stretchers. With a brief flick of Mordin's fingers against his omni-tool display, both were lifted to a few feet off the ground as the frames of the stretchers stretched out, unlayering sheets of metal that rested on wheels, creating hollow but sturdy beds to push the two away on. One body to a patient room to recover from the sudden injection of sedative. One body to the morgue.

If Kelly's last thought before she fell from consciousness was any measure of what was to come, Blaire's wouldn't be the only body in the morgue for long.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note: Anyone else find it funny I manage to update every four months, this time to the day, when I keep promising I mean to write more? Sorry about that folks, I really meant to write more, and I did, but on final papers instead. But hey! I've graduated now and moved into an actual house again. True my laptop died, but the desktop's working out just fine. I really do hope to get something out in faster than four months this time, but who's knows what'll happen now that I'm job hunting. Anyone know about any jobs available in Ottawa for a recent Legal Studies graduate? Anyone?<em>

_ Ahem, moving on, Sigma Castell, are four month long waits enough to help build character? Sorry if they aren't but I'm happy you think well of my stories, hope this chapter meets expectations. I've been trying to work on my word choice One Over Infinity, sorry I didn't update as quickly as I said I would, but at least it didn't take me any longer than last time. Kelly will surprise you FEholic, I hope,and don't worry, I forget nothing I put in my stories, plus who doesn't love a great big terrifying krogan giving chase? Besides the chasee of course. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, hope this one is as satisfying. Theifkingbakura1, does it say something I have no trouble typing your name anymore? Thank you for the review, it really is an honour to get such a long one. I haven't finished ME3, I have gone through all the stages of grief about the ending though, so I think I'll be firing it up to play again soon. I haven't read any of the ME books because I've heard mixed things about them, and honestly, I have my own head canon for this story's Omega, but thank you for the suggestion, I might check it out later, Golo sounds interesting. Hope this chapter is just as exciting for you! And if you ever get around to drawing the fanart, I'd love to see it, but by all means take your time, who am I to complain? Poison1234 I'm so glad you felt the emotion in the story, I'm so sorry it took so long to update again, I'm gonna try to be better. Sorry Breeanski, I didn't mean to keep you waiting, school intervened. Garnnystan, thank you so much for your review, I had thought by this point my stories would have been forgotten, but you got me off my butt with your flattery, and I finally finished this chapter._

_Thank you all for your reviews and views. Please review again, or for the first time, reviews really help feed my writing (and ego). I hope I managed to capture the right emotions in this chapter, and portray the characters right, almost all of who are OCs,it was quite the challenge. All feedback helps me to grow as a writer, well except flames, so all reviews, long and small, are worth their weight in gold!_

_...Well not literally, but you know what I mean._


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